{"id":5189,"date":"2019-02-25T15:02:24","date_gmt":"2019-02-25T15:02:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.benjamincheah.com\/?p=5189"},"modified":"2019-02-25T15:02:24","modified_gmt":"2019-02-25T15:02:24","slug":"red-river-part-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/?p=5189","title":{"rendered":"Red River Part 13"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Dewdrop World<\/h1>\n

One can\u2019t challenge an Executive Assistant Director of the PSB without consequences.<\/p>\n

Mere minutes after Pearce left, a barrage of orders came down from above. The mission was declared complete, with all operational duties handed over to the Riveria field office and local ESWAT team. All STS operators would catch the first flight back to Babylon. Team Black Watch would be suspended and placed on administrative leave to support a post-shooting investigation by the Office of Professional Standards and Ethics.<\/p>\n

After every mission, if an STS operator fired shots, there would always be a post-shooting investigation. But unlike regular law enforcement agencies, STS operators weren\u2019t pulled off the line during the investigation. Their operational tempo and small numbers simply couldn\u2019t support it. What investigations OPSE performed for the STS never took longer than a week, rarely longer than a day or two, long enough to establish that, yes, the operators faced extraordinary threats in an extraordinary environment, yes, the operators were required to employ dynamic tactics and specialist weapons to meet these threats, yes, the operators acted within policy.<\/p>\n

It took a major fuck up to be suspended.<\/p>\n

And the Black Watch did\u00a0not<\/em>\u00a0fuck up.<\/p>\n

In the hours that followed, the team packed up their things and filled out the requisite paperwork. Connor went through the motions mechanically but meticulously. With his hands busy, he had no room to indulge the black roiling mass growing in his heart.<\/p>\n

But even work had to end sometime. The team finished their chores at day\u2019s end. After a team dinner in the hotel restaurant, Connor made his excuses and left.<\/p>\n

He walked the streets of Riveria, riding the trains up and down the metro lines, taking in the sights, refreshing and updating his memories of the city. Or so he wanted to tell himself. But little registered in his brain, nothing more than geography and demographics and threat assessments.<\/p>\n

His feet carried him to Three Rivers. In spite of the fighting, the killing, the dying, the district was back to normal. Seas of people washed into the arcades and eateries and shops, hunting for the best deals, the finest food, the hardest liquors. Priests and missionaries and volunteers and touts continued to do their thing at street corners and shops.<\/p>\n

Life carried on.<\/p>\n

The only difference was that the Pantheon, the Liberated and the Court kept their distance from each other. No overt provocations, no open disrespect, just frigid indifference.<\/p>\n

But capitalism could only do so much. In the neighborhood where he had put down the avatar, many shops and houses were shuttered or boarded over. Black greasy spots marked where so many people and drones had died. Street altars, all of them dedicated to the Court, overflowed with offerings. There was little life here; only people passing through on the way home, and wolf packs roaming the streets or lurking in the shadows.<\/p>\n

He had nothing to fear from the latter. He let his mask drop, let the wolves see who he truly was, and straight away they knew he wasn\u2019t a man who could be fucked with.<\/p>\n

He wanted to feel something. Rage, sorrow, anything but the gnawing black mass in his chest. But all he felt was a void in his heart and a hole in his brain.<\/p>\n

Back in the hotel, he found Yamamoto seated at a corner booth in the bar, nursing a shot glass of clear liquid. No ice, no lemon, no lime, only pure alcohol.<\/p>\n

Unbidden, Connor approached. Yamamoto nodded and scooted over, making room for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are you having tonight?\u201d Connor asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cYmir Vodka.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSounds fancy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is. Triple distilled, filtered ten times, ninety-five percent alcohol.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI haven\u2019t tried that before.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTonight\u2019s a fine time to try one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I will.\u201d<\/p>\n

Connor waved a waitress over and placed his order. She returned thirty seconds later with a smile and a glass of clear spirit identical to Yamamoto\u2019s.<\/p>\n

The chilled vodka carried a subtle yet potent scent, like rubbing alcohol. Going down, it was clean and pure and smooth, settling into a pool of icy flame at the pit of his stomach, leaving an aftertaste of creeping warmth.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow is it?\u201d Yamamoto asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt fits you to a T.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yamamoto chuckled. \u201cI\u2019ve never heard anyone say that about a drink before.\u201d<\/p>\n

The men sipped at their vodkas in companionable silence. Sitting next to him, Connor was suddenly of just how\u2026\u00a0present<\/em>\u00a0Yamamoto was. He was fully in the moment, watching and listening to everything and everyone around him, partaking of the present in its totality, ready to receive anything the world could throw at him.<\/p>\n

Connor gulped down a small mouthful, savored the burn, thought,\u00a0what the hell<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you think Pearce was on the level?\u201d Connor asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n

Connor chuckled. \u201cMe too. I don\u2019t believe the Liberated showing up at SafeKeep was a coincidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAgreed. I think someone tipped them off. Someone inside the PSB.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPearce?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo proof either way. Still\u2026 it\u2019s odd. The TOC already knew we were running a stakeout. It doesn\u2019t make sense for the Liberated to send in a raid team right in front of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe the Liberated weren\u2019t told of our presence. Only that there was a House of Shadows under the building.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe, but why? It doesn\u2019t make sense operationally. Unless\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUnless?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUnless\u2026 someone wanted to give us an excuse to raid the House of Shadows without needing a warrant, and along the way knock the Liberated down a peg. And if we\u00a0didn\u2019t<\/em>\u00a0act, or if we died trying, the Liberated will take care of the problem anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMan, that\u2019s\u2026\u201d Connor shook his head. \u201cI want to say that that\u2019s impossible, but\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIs Pearce capable of that?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know. Only that from now on, we need to keep an eye on Pearce and his allies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd blowback from the New Gods.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout a doubt.\u201d<\/p>\n

By hunting down criminal Elect and Elect who posed as insane Husks, the STS made enemies of the New Gods. It was inevitable. Sooner or later, an operator or a team would disrupt one too many plans, slay an Elect too highly-ranked to be replaced, offend one too many clients of the New Gods. When that moment came, everyone in the STS knew that they would no longer be off-limits, and woe betide the man who had the New Gods after his head.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs it time to go off-grid?\u201d Connor asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cBetter safe than sorry. The moment we return to Babylon, I\u2019m going dark. You should, too. At least until we\u2019re cleared and placed back on active duty.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat sounds like a great idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

Connor gulped down his vodka. A travesty, but he didn\u2019t care.<\/p>\n

\u201cY\u2019know, when I was a kid, the PSB were my heroes. They were smart, they were powerful, they stood up for the little guy against the New Gods. They were the only ones willing to do that. When I joined the Bureau, I still believed that. But now\u2026\u201d He shook his head. \u201cUp is down and black is white.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAmen,\u201d Yamamoto agreed.<\/p>\n

Connor ordered another drink. Whiskey on the rocks, this time. The Riverian working man\u2019s drink. He needed it.<\/p>\n

As the waitress left, Yamamoto said, \u201cThere\u2019s one piece of good news.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cZen cloned the devices we recovered from the Court at the House of Shadows. Including DeMille\u2019s phone. If there\u2019s any funny business between the Court and the PSB, we\u2019ll know about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Connor recalled Yamamoto whispering into Tan\u2019s ear, and grinned.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll drink to that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

When Connor\u2019s drink arrived, he flooded his mouth, filled his belly, and savored the golden burn mixed with peat and smoke. Whiskey was the first adult beverage he\u2019d ever tried, the first drink he\u2019d learned to appreciate. Yamamoto\u2019s vodka was fancy, but days like this demanded whiskey.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you think Pearce was telling the truth about maintaining the balance of power between the New Gods?\u201d Connor asked. \u201cAbout our mission being to save humanity?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI can believe it. I can understand where he\u2019s coming from.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut\u2026\u201d Connor prodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut if what he said were true, all we\u2019re doing is damage control. We\u2019re not stopping the war, we\u2019re just trying to hold back the tide.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel that way sometimes.\u201d Connor sighed. \u201cBut if we try to stop the war, we\u2019ll have to take on the New Gods. All of them. At the same time. How the hell do we do that?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDamned if I know.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat a fucked-up world we live in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis world is a dewdrop world. A peal of a bell, a bolt of lightning, a dream. No more.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hell does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis world is illusory and transient. Everything changes, nothing stays the same, and it only takes a moment for the world to change completely.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t see that happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe shattered the Cartel, didn\u2019t we? Even the New Gods need human pawns. If we take out enough of them, we can defang them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cKill until the rivers run red, huh?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it comes to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

He chuckled. \u201cWell, even if we take out the pawns, what can we do about the New Gods? We don\u2019t even know where or\u00a0what<\/em>\u00a0they are.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe New Gods aren\u2019t gods. They are demons.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s blasphemy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The men shared a quiet laugh.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s true, isn\u2019t it?\u201d Yamamoto said. \u201cNo god will deliberately use humans as pawns and add to the ocean of suffering in this world just to achieve their goals. No god I\u2019ll worship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Connor thought again about what Yamamoto had done in the church. How he had exorcised an Elect of the New Gods. How he had stared down the New Gods.<\/p>\n

And won.<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard DeMille call you an Old Believer,\u201d Connor said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Connor knew the term. It meant someone who followed one of the old faiths that had existed before the arrival of the New Gods. He thought Old Believers were foolish. The New Gods walked the world and granted their favors to believers; none of the old gods had ever been sighted, much less dispensed miracles the way the New Gods did.<\/p>\n

And yet\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat did she mean when she said your faith was impure?\u201d<\/p>\n

Connor chuckled. \u201cYou were raised in a household without religion, yes?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n

A disproportionate number of STS operators came from similar backgrounds. Not that they didn\u2019t believe in the existence of gods\u2014one might as well declare that the world was flat\u2014but they weren\u2019t pledged to any god. To worship a god was to serve it, and there many people uncomfortable with that notion. For now.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy parents are religious. In fact, my mother\u2019s a scholar who specializes in the old myths and religions of the world that came before. They passed down their knowledge and their traditions to me. I practice what I found to be true.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat the Court said about my faith being impure is true in the doctrinal sense. But you\u2019ve seen the results of my practice firsthand.\u201d<\/p>\n

This was the first time Yamamoto had ever spoken of his parents to him. Connor wondered what it was like living in a household steeped in a faith few practiced. His own parents and grandparents had given the subject of the New Gods no more attention than the news of the day. Connor had turned out well\u2014as well as he hoped he could have\u2014but Yamamoto possessed a deep and abiding faith in something greater than he was.<\/p>\n

Connor wondered what it was like to live with faith.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not much of a believer,\u201d Connor said. \u201cWhy do you practice?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTo sustain the cultural traditions of my ancestors.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s it?\u201d<\/p>\n

He laughed. \u201cAnd one more reason.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe live in a nightmare world ruled by false gods. But if we seek the transcendent, the truth will set us free.\u201d<\/p>\n

False gods? Transcendent? The words grated at Connor\u2019s brain. The only gods he knew were the same gods that made war on each other in a bid to control the world. The only transcendence he had seen was the raw power they granted to their followers, powers that the STS had painstakingly learned how to neutralize. But after what he had seen in the church, in the House of Shadows, maybe there was something more to it than that.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat god do you worship?\u201d Connor asked. \u201cYahweh, was it?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere do I find out more about him?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Bible. You\u2019re going to read it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Connor chugged down his whiskey.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just might.\u201d<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

\"Cheah<\/p>\n

If a brutal-yet-realistic dungeon crawler is right up your alley, check out the Kickstarter of Dungeon Samurai\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

To stay updated on writing news and promotions, sign up for my newsletter\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dewdrop World One can\u2019t challenge an Executive Assistant Director of the PSB without consequences. Mere minutes after Pearce left, a barrage of orders came down from above. The mission was declared complete, with all operational duties handed over to the Riveria field office and local ESWAT team. All STS operators would catch the first flight […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[106,138,168,216,260,277,278,289,306],"class_list":["post-5189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction","tag-cyberpunk","tag-fiction","tag-horror","tag-military-science-fiction","tag-red-river","tag-science-fantasy","tag-science-fiction","tag-singlit","tag-steempulp"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5189"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5189"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5189\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kitsuncheah.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}