A Kusari Story

[Cat]

True Epilogue: Revelations

I wake up sitting in a chair, awoken by the smell of a cigar. My injuries hurt, but not as much as I'd expect; I can even feel bandages on my body. As I open my eyes, I see a dimly-lit room around me. It is a small study with a few shelves filled with books and folders, following the traditional Libertonian art deco style. The chair I'm sitting in is soft and cosy, and I'm not even tied. In front of me I see a sturdy and definitely expensive desk, with quite a few folders, an ashtray, a lamp and a monitor on it. I'm not the one behind the desk though: I sit in one of the two chairs reserved for visitors. As my mind processes all that, the owner of the desk turns his chair around to face me.

- "Aiden McFarlane, I presume. Or should I say 'Norman O'Connor, retired LSF advisor'?" - the man's voice is deep and calm, yet arid and emotionless at the same time. And it too sounds familiar. Just like the expensive cigar, the balding head, and the shrewd eyes.

- "And you must be Arnold Bravo, the founder of Ajax Combine..." - my words are close to mumbling, as I'm still recovering from what happened. - "Or should I say 'Joseph Dawson, former Director of the Liberty Security Force'?"

- "Either way works, Norman," - the man smirks at my attempt to mimic him. - "After all, a name is just a means to refer to someone. Joseph Dawson is just as good as Arnold Bravo in that regard."

- "You're the last person I expected to see here," - I think for a while, before adding. - "Sir."

The man just continues smirking, as he puts his cigar on the edge of the ashtray. "You've got questions, Norman." - he puts it as a statement, rather than a question. Why else would I sneak on one of his transports? Yet I do have a bad feeling about this: "I'm afraid that once I get the answers, I won't walk out of this room." The man's smirk fades a little, as he hears that: "I guess I'm supposed to answer something along the lines of 'If I wanted you dead, you'd be dead already' at this point. But there's no need for B-movie remarks, Norman."

Joseph Dawson leans back in his chair, putting his fingertips together. "By now you're probably about to mention your apartment on Los Angeles, or that mess in Kusari. I can tell you everything, it'd probably save us a lot of time otherwise spent on asking questions and trying to link the answers together. But first, I'm curious... Why motivates you to see this case through?"

- "I don't know." - the sudden turn of this discussion startles me. - "It began as a desire to do things right... After all, the mess happened on my watch." - I decide to leave the former owner of Shinchoku out of it, just in case. - "Then a... friend of mine... suggested that I should do it for the sake of the families who lost someone there." I pause, thinking my next words through: "But in the end... I just want to know why it all happened? If there's any lesson I took to heart over the course of the last months, it's that the world isn't black and white, so you can't do the 'right' thing. In a way, I wanted to find out what motivated you."

The Ajax CEO, smirks, content with the answer he got. "My motivation, Norman, is the same that you used to have: to serve the best interests of House Liberty," - he ignores my surprised expression and continues. - "After I did my best to solve the problems that the LSF had at that time, my services were no longer needed there. I used a few of my contacts to found Ajax Combine, which would be able to do things the Liberty Security Force could not."

The man picks up the cigar and inhales the smoke yet again. "Liberty was winning the war with Rheinland, but we had a new threat—Gallia. It was only a matter of time before the Gauls would crush Bretonia, and then they'd switch to Liberty. I founded Ajax to make sure that Bretonia stands in the war as long as possible, not giving up to the invaders. As long as Bretonians have the pace they can call home, they'll keep fighting for it. Sprague can become one of those places."

At this point I can't hold the question unasked: "But what does it have to do with Kusari and the attack on Shinchoku Incorporated?" The director smirks: "I was getting to that, Norman. Kusarians were the first who gave up to the Gauls, even going as far as establishing diplomatic relations with them. At worst, they were a potential threat to Liberty. But speaking of Shinchoku... That corporation is known for developing technology, then living off patents, usually selling the rights to the highest bidder. That time they managed to acquire an item that could lead to a technological breakthrough. Leaving that item in their hands meant risking the Gauls putting their hands on it. I couldn't allow that, so I sent my people to retrieve it."