Reason Before Action

No news after that. It was quiet for the following days. Jisoo's acting up. She somewhat got this constant steely look on her face. Always watching. Sometimes a loss on what she should be doing.

I don't involve myself. I do ask her if there is anything wrong, but there are times that you just have to make space for others to think. And that I rather not get in her way when she's acting like she has a lot to uncover in her head.

Had no clue what was happening. All the handler jobs that Jisoo used to do were cut off. I drove around Agua City to places that I thought could help me think about what is happening. Odd is that it looks like the blast really did lock some places. Made me shiver. Even though there are various changes. Some places feel like they are set up so that Gaius and Mino Naomi might come back to.

Had checked up on Naomi through the spyware that I planted on her augments. She's doing fine mostly. Got information on Gaius as well. He's doing well considering. Guess some of the stuff made it clear to me that paths stay for these two.

Doubt and fear remains constant in my mind. Doubt of my own existence and fear that maybe even I cannot endure the coming storm. Perhaps this is nothing more than a backstory hidden beyond the complexities. That I wouldn't be able to reach the road.

It is like an itch that I cannot scratch. I only hope that one day the feeling goes away. Makes me emotional. It's still hard to not think about what you left behind from another world.

Continued riding around the city. Examining leftover clues. And even broke into databases to understand the damages. I wouldn't do this if I wasn't confident. It was also because I was confident that it made me wonder if this will go to my head. That I'd be some bastard.

Met a guard who didn't do shit when I walked in. He could have raised the alarm. Could have shouted at me. But seeing the digital mask on my face and the iron that I carried. He couldn't give a shit and went to eat his food in the booth.

I manage to index relevant data. Told myself that was it, then left. After scouring the city for any topographic data. I had to do some manual research regarding the effect of the explosion.

That was easy. All I had to do was do a general search around the city. Then included the keywords that would allow me to get a sense. Most of the posts in the socials were about their fear. There is always that one photographer and journalist that manages to somewhat record what is happening around the area. Got to figure out the radius of the damage. From the looks of it there are folks who speculate that it came from one of the orbital stations above.

Corporate Wars are quite something. Most of it is focused on four cities. Pacifica, Axelia, Midden, and Karagi. Pacifica is a giant city. It is like two cities with the middle of it being dogshit. Axelia is not much bigger than Pacifica, but has areas that are absolutely humongous. Brick and timber buildings. It was also one of the places that did not have giant buildings and skyscrapers because of how massive the land it occupies. Not to mention that the geography of the city made it unlikely for anyone to do it.

Midden is a farming community with a lot of old style residences. Stubborn folks who are willing to stay behind. Why would they when they got it covered? Not to mention the whole of Midden is sitting on a former prairie that was molested into being a wasteland.

I do remember Midden and Axelia City having these giant wind farms and solar farms. Pacifica is more nuclear-reliant. Which is why most of the water near power plants in Pacifica is straight-up toxic. Agua is somewhat a miracle because it sits on this fjord and estuary.

Karagi is what you'd expect. Pacifica is somewhat rather acceptable. But Karagi is a wonder. Three massive mega platforms that interconnected the skyscraping mega buildings forming this cage-like appearance. Because of the lack of space, Karagi has become the tech-paradise and ad-infested shithole at the same time. The lights in Karagi are said to be blinding. Multi-color neon lights. Colorful advertisements played in holograms, video screens, and even the sky is covered in holo-ads.

Jisoo told me of her experience in Karagi. She said that she never wanted to step in that shithole unless she had business in that city. Personally I have zero single reason to intervene in that business. I am hopelessly unambitious. I am not a goddamn psychopath willing to do awful things. It isn't in me. Perhaps it is hypocritical of me to say this when I was willing to execute the fucker that killed the previous consciousness of this body.

It is beyond me. I have my ways. I can do it. But thinking of actually going there? Why? I have no reason. Of course, knowing what might happen, forces me to think and recall.

I don't like acting without a proper reason. At least not when I need it. I am rather content with my life here in Agua. Don't know if Jisoo feels the same way. If she does think of returning to Pacifica. I might consider returning to the city as well.

I have no reason to go to that city. And if I do return. I simply don't believe that the Solomons wouldn't drag me into their business again. That city, as I said, has one way of dragging you back to the mud and fucking you over.

There are many opportunities in that damn city. But those opportunities are behind dangers. I might just be cowardly, but my common sense is telling me to be reasonable when it comes to taking a step back to that shithole.