Night of the Summoners: Part 5

“What are you doing?” he asked Arata. The hacker was typing furiously on the keyboard, his gaze locked on the computer monitor.

“Well, basically you need an account to gain access to the VR – that’s virtual reality, just in case you didn’t know – program we’re gonna use. So I’m hacking into the system to make one for you right now.” He stopped typing and looked around. “Say, where did Nemissa go? I know the rest of the guys said they had some stuff to take care of, but she’s supposed to come with us.”

“She said she had to do some… shopping. But she’ll be back soon.”

“Shopping? Man, chicks are so strange,” Arata muttered as he resumed his work on the computer. He typed for a bit more before he announced, “Okay, I’m in! Let’s see… surname, Narumi. Given name?”

“Shouhei.”

“Shouhei… say, what’s so funny, cat?” Arata looked curiously at Gouto, who had made an odd noise.

The black feline turned away and shook his head.

Arata shrugged. “Whatever. So, what’s your handle?”

“Handle?” he echoed.

“Oh, sorry. I keep forgetting you don’t know most of these things. A handle is something like a nickname, I guess. You use that name instead of your real one when you’re on the net.”

So, he was to use another name instead of his real one? He almost smiled.

“So, got a handle ready?”

Of course he did.

“Raidou.”

Gouto made another one of those odd-sounding noises. Everyone ignored him.

Arata raised one eyebrow. “Raidou? That sounds pretty cool, and not to mention a whole lot better than boring old Narumi. Okay if I just call you Raidou from now on?”

“Please do,” Gouto muttered.

He fought the urge to grin. “Sure.”

“Raidou it is, then. Okay, now just let me tie up a few loose ends here.” Arata typed a few more commands. “That should do it.”

He peered at the computer screen. There was a fancy-looking logo for something called ‘Paradigm-X’ and some lines of text he did not understand. He mentioned this to his friend.

“Paradigm-X? It’s a VR network by Algon Soft. VR is, well, basically like a dream world, I suppose. You know how you made up all those imaginary worlds when you’re a kid? That’s how it works; except in VR, you’re totally immersed in that imaginary world of yours. You can walk around, talk to people, touch things, and do lots of other stuff, just like in the real world.”

“You mean it’s something like an alternate world?”

“Yeah, something like that!” Arata looked at him, obviously curious. “You know, you seem to be taking this whole VR concept rather well.”

He smiled. Well, he did spend all that time in Dark Tokyo – and Dark Tokyo sounded somewhat similar to this VR thing Arata was talking about.

“So this Paradigm-X is where you met this Redman person?”

Arata nodded, and then frowned. “Well, not exactly. The first time Redman showed up was when I was trying to hack into Paradigm-X from a public terminal. One moment I was trying to get into the user database and the next thing I knew Redman told me to get the hell away from there since the cops were about to show up.”

“And the vision quests you mentioned? What about them?”

“Oh, those.” Arata grimaced. “Well, that happened the first time I met Redman in Paradigm-X. We were just wandering around in there, exploring all the different stuff available. Then somehow I got separated from the other guys, and then Redman showed up.” He chuckled. “As a mutt. I thought it was pretty funny at the time.”

“And then what happened?” Gouto asked, whiskers twitching slightly. The cat was obviously interested in Arata’s story.

“He told me a bunch of stuff. How Paradigm-X was a way for Algon Soft to steal people’s souls, that sort of thing.” Arata leaned back and stretched a little before he slumped in his chair, staring at the ceiling. “He also told me I was walking around with multiple souls in my body.”

He and Gouto looked at each other. Multiple souls? He thought they would need to discuss this further among themselves, and judging from Gouto’s expression, the cat thought the same. They had never come across anything like this before.

Arata must have noticed their reaction, since the young man chuckled. “Creepy huh? I sure as hell didn’t believe him at first. Like anyone would. Anyway, basically I could go through these vision quests where I’d experience the last moments of one of these souls I’m lugging around.”

The Summoner paused for a moment, trying to remember all the details. “Then Redman threw me into a vision quest where I was this guy called Urabe. He works for Algon Soft, but he was getting tired of all the shady stuff so he wanted to quit for good. He was going to steal this important program Algon Soft has locked up before he leaves, and he did. Too bad this Finnegan bastard catches up to him and ends up killing him in the end.”

“What was this ‘program’ thing he stole?” he asked.

Arata grinned. “That program thing, my friend, turned out to be Nemissa. She was locked in this,” he explained, tapping his GUMP, which was on the computer desk. “When I unlocked the GUMP with the password Urabe had set, she just popped out and then jumped into Hitomi. And the rest, well – you already know.”

Gouto sniffed. “How curious. So who exactly is this Redman?”

Arata shrugged. “No one knows for sure. He knows my name, who Nemissa is, what Algon Soft really is – but nobody knows anything about him. He seems to be on our side though, so I guess that’s a relief.”

He decided to change the subject since the other Summoner did not look like he was comfortable with discussing it any further. “You know, you never did tell me how that GUMP of yours worked.”

Arata laughed. “Raidou, that’s because I’m not sure how it works. I’ll show you what I know though.” He took his GUMP and pulled the trigger; as before, the device opened up into two halves, with various lights and buttons on each half. “This here,” he explained, pointing to a part of the device, “shows how many demons I’ve got stored in the GUMP. Right now I’ve only got six. Now this is where I can do all sorts of stuff with the add-on modules, like mapping out my location, and figuring what sort of demons I’d get when I fuse them.”

He took the GUMP when Arata offered it to him. Most of the text on the tiny screens was alien to him, but the list of demons stored was not. He then tried out the function for fusion previews Arata had shown him. It was certainly a lot easier than making a long trek to Victor’s and figuring everything out from there, he thought.

Gouto was looking at the GUMP with what he recognised as pure envy. “What else can you do with this contraption?” the cat asked.

Arata shrugged. “Depends on what modules I’ve got. I’ve only a few of the basic ones so far, so I can’t really do much with it. But the guys at the EL-115 – that’s this store that sells add-ons for the GUMP – probably have tons of stuff for it. I just can’t afford to buy them just yet.” He grinned. “I promise I’ll show you what I can do with the new modules once I get them, though.”

He handed the GUMP back to Arata. “You mentioned that Paradigm-X is a total immersion sort of experience. How does that work?”

Arata held up what looked like to be a pair of rather clunky-looking pair of sunglasses, with a long cable attached to the computer. “You just put one of this on, and – oh heck, this is one of those things where it’s easier to understand if you just try it out.” He looked at Gouto. “They don’t come in kitty sizes though, so I guess you won’t be going.”

“What? Of course I’m going!” Gouto protested.

“Sorry. Paradigm-X doesn’t allow for any kitties logging in either.”

The black cat snorted in disgust.

Arata laughed. “Seriously, I don’t know how we could possibly drag you in Paradigm-X, Gouto. Hey, that sounds like the door; that means Nemissa’s back. Maybe I can ask her, she should know how to get you and Raidou in…” The Summoner turned around and left his sentence hanging, eyes wide in surprise.

He looked behind him.

He gawked.

Nemissa’s little shopping trip apparently involved a change in wardrobe; she had forgone the rather sedate red jacket, skirt and tights for a more… feisty outfit.

One of tight-fitting black leather.

Gouto was making choking noises.

“Wow,” Arata managed to stifle out after a very long moment of silence.

“Arata! Look what she made me wear!” Hitomi whined, one hand gesturing at her new form-fitting leather catsuit. “I look like – like some biker chick!”

“But you look good – ow!”

Hitomi managed to get in one more smack before Nemissa took over. “I knew you guys would like it!” she said, beaming. “So are we ready to go?”

Arata rubbed his shoulder where Hitomi had thumped him. “Yeah, we’re ready. Raidou’s coming along for this one too.”

“Raidou?”

“Narumi’s handle. I thought it’d be cooler if we just called him that from now on.”

She pursed her lips in thought. “Raidou does sound better.” She smirked. “And cuter.”

“Stop that,” Arata warned.

“You’re no fun.”

“Here Raidou, put this on.” Arata handed him a pair of those odd-looking sunglasses. “I’ll log in for you, so you just sit back and enjoy the experience, okay? We’ll be right after you.”

He put the contraption on. At first he didn’t feel anything different; the room stayed as it was, albeit with a slightly blue tint. He was about to ask if there was anything wrong when his vision changed to show… a reception desk? He turned left and right; he no longer seemed to be in the Spookies’ trailer, and instead was in some sort of building.

The woman at the reception desk smiled at him. “Hello and welcome to Paradigm-X, user Raidou,” she greeted. “I see you are a first-time user. Would you like a tour of the facility?”

Someone else answered for him. “Naah, it’s all right. He’s with us.”

He turned around to see Arata and Nemissa waving at him. “Thought we ditched ya, huh?” Arata said, smirking.

“That did cross my mind.”

“Don’t be silly. Nemissa would claw my eyes out if I did.” Arata walked up to him and said in a soft voice only he was meant to hear, “Your kitty sidekick too. He’s pissed that he can’t get in, and Nemissa won’t take him.”

“He’ll get used to it.”

Arata chuckled. “Well, I guess we’ll just wander around until Redman shows up. Last time he shoved me in a vision quest it was at the movie theatre, so I suppose we should head there first.”

“Okay by me,” Nemissa agreed.

They walked out of the building and into the streets; he was amazed to see that it was as lively as the streets out in the real world. He had expected a more subdued and gloomy look to the whole experience, just like his own encounters in the Dark areas of Tokyo. There were stores of all kinds; candy shops, fashion boutiques, bookstores, toy stores, and some other shops he could not identify. When he asked Arata about them and what was the ‘S&M’ they were selling, the other Summoner simply blushed furiously and coughed before changing the subject, while Nemissa just laughed.

Maybe he should ask Yu-ichi about those when he got back.

“Hey, Raidou?” Arata said.

“Yes?”

“If something happens and we get separated, I want you to run back to that building where we first arrived. Go straight to the reception desk and tell the lady there you want to log out. Got it?”

“Yes. But what about you?”

“I’ll manage. I just don’t want you getting your soul sucked out or something. We can’t really control things in here, this is Algon Soft territory.”

“I don’t like it,” he admitted. “But I’ll do it.”

Arata smiled. “Okay then.”

That 'something' Arata was worried about did happen later; they were just entering an alley that Arata said led directly to the movie theatre when he suddenly realised that he was alone. He looked around for any signs of his two friends, but found none.

“You shouldn’t be here.”

He turned around, and blinked when he saw who said that.

“You shouldn’t be here,” the owner of the voice repeated. A rabbit was sitting right across him; the animal seemed to be glowing slightly. It was staring at him with an intensity that he found almost alarming.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“I am Redman,” the rabbit answered. “I am sorry, but I cannot allow you to go with them.”

“Why not?”

“You don’t belong here. Go back to the building like Arata said. And wait for them.” Redman turned to walk away and then gradually disappeared into thin air.

“Wait!” he said, but Redman was gone.

He ran out of the alley, but could not find traces of Arata, Nemissa nor Redman. What should he do now? Look for them, or do as Arata and Redman told him to do and go back to the reception desk?

Part of him wanted to look for his friends to make sure they were all right, but another part of him – the more sensible one – told him that Redman was probably right; he simply did not belong here. If anything happened, he might not have any idea how to react to the situation. He was not even sure if his demon summoning skills or his weapons would work in this Paradigm-X world.

He closed his eyes and sighed, and then made his way back to the main building. He did not like leaving them behind. Not one bit.

He hoped Arata and Nemissa were all right, wherever they were.

It was all he could do for now.