"…Look, I don't know anything you're talking about. But I can promise that I've done no harm."
Gunther laughed. "Is that what you say when you shoot a live bullet at a humble little officer? Look at this man; he's pissed his pants."
The police officer wasn't happy to hear this.
But his pants were wet.
Gunther shook his head, holding his hands up. He approached the corpse and reached out and touched it. Dark blue energy enveloped him as it shimmered from his pale blue eyes.
"I see. A Hatred Possessed carried an electrorazor and slashed this poor man to death. This will take a bit to figure out…but I can confirm that our Suspect doesn't have your build."
It was pleasing that he was clear of suspicion, but what the hell was Gunther talking about? What's more, what was that light? The man could remember dimmed words that seemed to underline the absurdity of what he was witnessing.
Pure fantasy. Fiction. Separation from reality.
These thoughts… made him suspect that no such thing existed where he came from. He was tempted to question that man thoroughly, fascinated by the prospect.
"Magic…" escaped his lips.
"What? Hey, have you been living under a rock? This is Cognitive Force, buddy." Gunther retorted as he got back to work.
It felt somewhat similar to the sensation of the Desire Crevice. A familiar connection was established between both the light blue waves emitted by the man and his head.
Something churned.
"Alright, I've got some more details. The person was a woman; her height was 5'4. She seems to have little wealth and lives around the area. You're clear, man."
Gunther got up and made for a handshake. The man grasped his hand despite the blood lining it.
"You don't shy from blood, either. Unfortunately, I didn't catch your name…."
"I didn't give it. Hey, are you all the way there? In the head?" The man's reply broke his monotonous intonations, revealing a hint of bite behind the stoicism.
"Wow. You can remember sarcasm…? Alright then. You can come to headquarters with me if you're not doing anything." Gunther's brows creased in slight frustration, but he put his emotions aside.
"And why should I do that?" The man had a blank face, but the suspicion in his eyes was evident to Gunther. That was all well and fine, though.
He'd be drowning in Merits if he could rope such a good sharpshooter to his headquarters. And besides, he would have to fight this man if he didn't come with him. He was just too dangerous to let him walk the streets.
His amiable expression didn't betray any of these underlying thoughts.
The man inwardly rolled his eyes. He felt a sense of familiarity from that smile…wearing fake emotions on his sleeve. He got the sense that he was the kind of man that did that a lot.
And a liar quickly sees through another. Even more, if that liar is simply better at it than the other.
The man shrugged.
"Alright, I'll comply with you."
"Thanks, you won't regret it." Gunther was confident and even wanted to pat the man on the back. But instead, the man just stood there, though it still took a while.
It was because he was pretty tall. He stood at 6'4 and had a muscular build. He was quite handsome as well, as begrudgingly noticed by Gunther.
There were faint black marks under his eyes, presumably from spending a long time being tired. Yet it seemed to add to his charm, with his crescent-like eyes revealing a mysterious, subdued beauty.
'Hell, I could confuse this man for a woman if it weren't for the fact that his back is like a barrel of snakes. The hell did this guy come from? Another City?'
Gunther thought to himself before exiting the alley, the other man in tow.
——
The place was like nothing the man thought he'd seen before. There were signs composed of light, edged by sleek mechanical bodies.
Everything had a vibe that reeked of the future. Cars floated above the road, and there were tons of buildings. Some seemed stacked up upon another, showing off the overall lack of wealth of the area he was currently in.
The air was filled with fog that rolled over the streets in crooked gusts. Yet and still, the lights abound were always visible. Floating structures took the place of streetlights as they covered the areas with brightness.
There was junk piled about the sides of the alleyways as they passed. Even that rubble seemed expensive in the man's eyes, the jumbled scraps and wires like the insides of a high-end computer.
Gunther talked to himself as they walked.
"So, what's your name?" He couldn't help but ask this question again. The man behind him was quiet, intimidating even. He was dithering about complaining about the quality of the bars in Old Westwood, the neighborhood they were walking through.
The man grew tired of this. His eyes darted over to a couple of signs before he answered.
"Vere Blanchett." These words were derived from two signs, one belonging to a bar and the other to a placard before a door. He figured no one would mind if he took these names for himself.
"I don't understand French. Your parents must have been weird, ey?"
"Yeah, I guess." Vere gave an even smile and said nothing else. He noted to himself that Gunther seemed to be quick at concluding.
That would be useful. A clever word here and there, and all he'd have to do is watch him make his own story.
Vere got the sense that he wasn't a very good man. But with no memories at all, how could he go about fixing the past? At least now, there was no one he could be but himself.
He got the feeling that he could present that "self" however he liked, though.
The two continued down the sidewalks, and the police officer went to report the discovered crime scene. The overall dinginess of the place lessened as they progressed.
[Welcome to Morlund]
A sign read. The faded smudges seem like somebody was trying to rub out the words. Vere tuned in to Gunther's endless chatter for a moment.
"Jeez, I mean, even I admit Morlund is a shithole. But who would try and rub off the name of it? Sounds pretty idiotic to me, aye? Anyways, almost every place is a shithole, thanks to those Desire Crevices. They just came out of nowhere…."
"But I gotta thank them, in a way. I wouldn't be a Cognition Magus without one."
Vere thought it was funny that he used the word Magus yet scoffed at the word magic. He said nothing and refused to listen to the man any further.
A building shimmered in the darkness of the night; the radiant lights emitted from floating mechanical orbs. There was a familiar feeling that drew Vere even further, something similar to the light blue waves Gunther used.
He felt a vast presence of it, his skin shivering. There was a premonition that lingered on his mind. What was that feeling…?
He was trying too hard to remember it.
His fingers twitched in anticipation. A smile bloomed on his face, his demeanor oozing charm and guile.
Something crawled within the confines of that man, stemming from his brain. There seemed to be four wisps forming in the Nexus of his subconscious.
Something was awaiting him, but he didn't care. For a split second, he felt welcome in Morlund.