Jason didn't go to sleep that night. The room's lights had dimmed at one point, but the teen continued to stare up at the ceiling long after. His body was still a mess; the hole in his stomach sent electrical waves of pain up his spine every twist or turn he made, and his arms and legs were probably more gauze than they were skin. It hurt to move, so he didn't.
However, that only made his thoughts run wild.
This whole situation was his own doing. He was the one who willfully ignored all the signs, and even when he noticed some things, Jason chose to continue. It was his impatience and desire to not rely on his parents that pushed him to the edge, and he didn't stop as he jumped right off.
Thinking over the previous conversation –those veiled threats– caused Jason to look over at Cecilia. Miraculously, she was sleeping like she hadn't just threatened his family. He'd be impressed if he wasn't so… incensed.
A boiling emotion that bubbled up from his stomach and into his chest. His thoughts grew darker, but he didn't act. The monk in the corner of the room stayed and watched them.
"This monk implores you not to act on emotional thinking."
Jason snorted, turning from Cecilia to Balakrishna. He knew he was being too confrontational with the man who beat him like a drum, but the teen was more annoyed at the situation. "You're one to talk. Didn't you go on about convictions, misplaced mercy, and the whole schtick? Now, all of a sudden, it doesn't matter?"
"It was the time and place for such acts then. Now, it is the time and place to adhere to the established balance to keep this peace." Balakrishna said, and then he sighed, sagging minutely in his perfect posture. "This monk can understand your internal struggles. Anger seeks to move your hand, but reason and temperance must control it."
"Can understand my struggles? What are you even on?" Jason repeated and smacked his bed with his hand, causing the metal legs to creak and bend. "Was your family threatened in front of your face? I don't care if you can kill me easily, don't act like you can say some fancy words and expect me to be all enlightened and shit."
Before Jason could continue to rant, Balakrishna stood up. The teen's lips pulled into a frown as the monk walked over to him, and Jason readied himself until the other man sat down on the bed, staring at him. For a moment, Jason saw the monk's impassive face change; a sad, resigned smile spread over the bald man's lips.
"This monk's family was killed by those that have taken you in."
Jason sucked on his teeth, stalling the words before they came.
"You may not have been born then, but the gangs, corporations, and Infinite Monastery all had conflicts within all the City Pillars of Alter-Khan. The gangs wanted more than the Infinite Sage allowed them, but the Infinite Sage cannot be everywhere. And the corporations did not help as much as they promised. Chaos was the result of that broken balance." Balakrishna's tone was the same monotone he had used everywhere, but his face spoke volumes. His eyes grew watery as he reminisced, and his lips trembled on every word. "This monk's parents perished in the mindless conflict."
"Then why can't…" Jason cut off what he was saying, shooting a glance at the still unconscious Cecilia.
Balakrishna shook his head, growing stone-faced again. "Even if this monk desired that course of action, it would break the oath this monk took at the beginning of his journey. On the grander scale, what would such an action precipitate? Would it really assuage your concerns?"
Jason pursed his lips. The monk's words made sense, but he grew restless just sitting there, stewing with his thoughts.
"For what its worth, this monk apologizes for being helpless here."
"No, no, its fine." Jason said with a sigh, wincing as his injuries stretched under his bandages. "This is just… my own fault."
The monk grunted, neither confirming nor denying Jason's words. "As distorted as it is, this is a type of balance."
"A shitty one, yeah."
"That need not be said." The monk nodded. "This City Pillar exemplifies the tenuous relationship between the gangs."
"Does it?" Jason asked, enjoying the change in subject. "Isn't it normally like this?"
"No, this balance is a precarious and atypical one. A situation like City Pillar 476 is only mirrored in five of the five hundred City Pillars across Alter-Khan." Balakrishna said, reaching into his kasaya and pulling out a Holo watch.
The monk fiddled with the watch for a moment, and after he was done, a holographic sphere hovered over the screen of the watch. Over the sphere, Jason found that there were three large splotches of color like someone had haphazardly thrown paint onto its surface. What he noticed immediately was that the three colored splotches only met at certain points, and all three of them only connected in five separate places over the sphere.
"This monk has spent many of his own expenses to build this diagram, but it serves its purpose. Each color represents a major criminal enterprise that runs parallel to this planet's surface." Balakrishna pointed at one of the areas where the three territories met. "This point is where you currently reside. The Triads in the form of the Golden Circle; the Yakuza in the form of the Goto Clan; and finally, the Mafia in the form of the Calderone Familia. Each one is part of the larger alliance of gangs, but that does not detract from their influence."
Jason blinked, absorbing the sudden expansion of the gangs he knew. For everyone in his City Pillar, all they needed to know was that the Triads, Yakuza, and Mafia were around. The idea that those factions were only a small fraction of a larger, world-spanning criminal underground was not what a normal cog or office worker cared about.
At the same time, Jason wondered more about what he had unknowingly agreed to.
Wetting his lips, Jason stared at the spherical diagram in Balakrishna's hands. "Then… what does this mean for me?"
"For now, this monk has no clue."
"Seriously, man?"
"This humble monk has taken to giving you the information he has found out of sympathy. He knows not the inner workings of the criminal enterprises themselves. The only thing he has that might help would be that the Hunting Hounds you have been inducted into are one of the forces shared by the entire Mafia instead of a singular Familia."
Jason scoffed. "So, I'm just a killer for hire to be used…"
"... This monk offers his condolences again. If he had aimed higher, you might have been spared of this predicament."
Jason shivered, touching the thick gauze over the hole in his stomach. "N– No, its fine… By the way, what about the Zoo?"
"This monk asks you to explain."
"I mean, where are they on this diagram or whatever? Aren't they a gang as well?"
Balakrishna hummed in acknowledgement, dismissing the diagram from his Holo. A second later, Jason heard footsteps outside their room. He wrinkled his nose as he barely smelled Luciano approaching through the thick lemon-scented chemicals in the room.
"Gangs like the Zoo are not uncommon." Balakrishna said as he got up and walked over to his corner of the room, sitting cross legged on the floor. "Especially in contested areas, there will be those scum who fight over the scraps left over. At most, these gangs will end up subordinated under the three hegemonies, or they will be destroyed. It is an inevitable outcome without sufficient changes."
"Sufficient changes?" Jason echoed, but Balakrishna had already closed his eyes, pretending to be meditating. The door opened with a hiss as Luciano stepped in, announcing himself.
The teen ignored the black-haired man, and Luciano just followed suit to check up on Cecillia. Jason noticed how he breathed a minute sigh of relief when there was nothing off about her condition. It was something he would've taken note of normally, but he was more focused on Balakrishna's last explanation.
What exactly constituted "sufficient changes" when it concerned their conflict with the three major gangs? The answer, paradoxically, was easy to figure out. After all, the Infinite Sage changed how the gangs operated in the first place, so it stood to reason that one had to be a Transcendent to affect things as a singular person. It also served as a reminder of what he needed to achieve to free himself of his sudden, forced employment.
Jason just wished there was another way to get out of the problem he found himself embroiled in.
…
Unlike how he expected, Jason's trip back up his City Pillar was uneventful. Balakrishna, having finished watching them, had vanished in the Blues of the City Pillar, and Luciano made good on his deal to take Jason home. Jason had seen how the so-called Dog Trainer had eased up with the departure of the Infinite monk, and they spent the two hour trip in the elevator in silence.
The only conversation they had was when Jason finally got off on his floor.
"Here you go, kid." Luciano said, swiping the screen of the Holo on his wrist.
Jason felt his own Holo buzz, and a contract appeared on his screen. He looked up to see Luciano grinning.
"Its to explain where you're going. Just say you got a contract with Cloudstrider Industries, and your mom can look over that."
Jason frowned. "She's going to know its fake."
"Probably. If it was fake, though."
Jason paused, looking at the contract he was sent again. Everything about it was normal; it had the logo and stipulations that seemed fine. The teen was more caught up in the implications where this contract wasn't fake. He stared up at Luciano. An unasked question hung in the air.
"Yeah, its exactly what you're thinking." Luciano said with a smile. "You'd be surprised how many corporations have ties to gangs in their City Pillars; after all, the Infinite Sage's declaration forced many of them to seek other avenues for profits. That punk, Michelangelo, was right that us gangs are just another corporation of sorts. Nevertheless, I expect you to head to the main building of Cloudstrider Industries when that hole in you is gone. Actually, you can probably go there with it… ta ta!"
Barely giving Jason a moment to understand what was happening, Luciano had already turned and left. The teen was left with a bunch of questions that swirled around in his head, and he could only stumble home, cradling his injuries.
He arrived home not long after. As he grew closer, his thoughts inevitably turned to how his parents would react to him. He already knew it would be a bad idea to fill them in on how he had been press ganged into the Calderone Familia –or were the Hunting Hounds different like Balakrishna said?
Either way, Jason could only swallow his worries, hoping that they wouldn't notice.
Eventually, Jason stood at the door to his family's apartment, shuffling on his feet. He debated in his head on what would happen, dreading the thought where his parents caught on immediately.
A deep breath. Then, another. The teen calmed his nerves and finally crossed the entryway, jumping as he saw his mom standing in the living room. Her hair was messy and greasy, telling him she had forgotten to shower and sleep. Behind her, Jason found his dad with two cups of hot lemon tea.
"Do you have any idea how long–" His mom started but paused when she saw the gauze wrapped around his body. "Jason! What happened to you?!"
"This– I… well," Jason stumbled on his prepared words as his parents rushed over to him. The teen jerked forwards as his mom hit their couch as she ran to him, catching her before she fell to the floor.
Despite the almost fall, his mom scanned his body, frowning as she looked over him.
"Are you… okay?" His dad asked, sporting a frown of his own.
"I'm–" Jason swallowed a lump in his throat, remembering everything that had been thrown on him. "I'm fine. I, uh, I got into a little trouble down on the lower Blues, but nothing that you guys need to worry about. And uh, I got recruited."
"A little trouble?" His mom echoed his words. "Jason, you're wrapped up in so much gauze! You should be resting in a medical bed!"
Jason felt his tongue was heavy in his mouth. He didn't trust himself to speak, so he leaned forwards and rested his head on his mom's shoulder. His mom paused at his sudden action, but she reached up and caressed his hair. A rough hand on his shoulder told him his dad also joined the odd hug.
A shuddering breath wracked Jason's chest. "S– Sorry, I just… wanted to see you two."
Up until now, Jason didn't know what to do. Everything had changed so abruptly that the reasonable worry of his parents was like a balm to his thoughts. It brought back memories where the only thing he had to worry about was the disappointment of his mom.
Now, like Balakrishna said, Jason knew that he was no longer the child he once was.
The monk's words about being directionless, and he couldn't help but relate that to his circumstances. Jason let others drag him around, leading him to his goals. His mom and dad's desire for him to go to Delver college manifested in his own drive to go there, and Oliver's betrayal was just another facet of this.
He didn't know what he wanted, so he let others decide for him. And now, his future was taken by those who decided for him. Even his resolution to not kill stemmed from his mom's own desire for him to not be like the Delvers she despised.
Jason could never tell her that those fears might have already come true.
In the arms of his parents, Jason made his first true decision. He didn't know what the future held for him, but if Luciano and the Calderone Familia thought they could threaten his family, then he would prove them wrong. He'd bide his time for a chance to get out from under their thumb.
Jason wondered if things would have changed if he hadn't hesitated to kill Cecilia. He figured that, if given another chance, he wouldn't spare someone who threatened his family.