Modern Monster

It didn’t take Sen long before he arrived at the library. It was a rather simplistic building that was connected to others. A few TV holograms were displayed on the windows, announcing the new release of books.

It looked worn down, to say the least. Well, in retrospect, almost all the buildings in the metropolis were worn down, primarily due to the filth of the cities and the never-ending monster attacks. He couldn’t blame the stores for insufficient money to repair their damage.

The incomes of stores, better yet—families were drastically low compared to what they used to be. And it wasn’t all due to monsters, either.

Japan was still recovering after the world war that occurred twenty years ago, which caused the economy to plummet drastically. Low-class families would often be seen living on the street, scavenging for any food that could be deemed edible. And on some occasions, you would see corpses of children who had died from starvation. Unfortunately, the fact it was labeled as an ‘occasion’ was already problematic on its own.

We have the never-ending threat of monsters already, but somehow, humans can make any situation worse with war and politics. I never understood the logic. Even monsters didn’t stop the greed of humans. They always remained the same, power-driven creatures.

Japan was fighting for its independence when World War III happened. They succeeded and defended their homeland with a stroke of luck, but only because other countries interfered with their enemy.

And the enemy in question was none other than America. They seized control, lost, seized, lost. It was a never-ending battle for independence. Sen found it imprudent. Not the independence part, but war in general. He would never learn why they sacrificed such things just for an illusionary concept of power.

His father’s quote began making more and more sense as time passed. Maybe there’s some truth in his words. Up until recently, I thought he was talking out of his ass. Thinking about his father’s words made him feel sentimental. I’ll find out the truth soon. After all, this was why he came to the library in the first place…

He had made some valuable connections over the years of research about his father’s background. Searching the depths of the internet—The Dark and Deep Web—came a variety of interesting people. Not all these people were drug dealers, illegal weaponsmiths, and criminals. Some were actually harmless… (with arrays of dangerous and valuable information). For a nifty price, that is. Luckily Sen was always smart with his money, so he was able to afford it.

Sen couldn’t just clear their names, saying they’re innocent people who haven’t done anything wrong. Morally speaking, it was quite the opposite.

Sadly, the people he knew were hunted by the government and had lists of criminal records behind them. They always hid their identity in fear of getting caught by the government because of their underhanded crimes. Yet, in Sen’s perspective, at least, they were the necessary criminals in the corrupt world he lived in.

Everywhere you went, there was information hidden under your nose. These criminals, no—these outcasts were fighting against the corrupt individuals who sought to distract and blind them. Sen wouldn’t have half the information about his father without these people. He could only gather so much that was hidden from the public’s view. However, he was getting slightly concerned about his safety by associating with them at the same time.

I’ll be fine. I mean, I’m only collecting records of my father. That shouldn’t be a big deal. Unless his father turned out to be a heinous criminal all along, then he’d probably get in some trouble, perhaps. At the moment, Sen was in the clear. If he did, in fact, get in trouble, well… his mom would be to blame for hiding things from him.

Looking around the library, Sen took notice of the large selection of books that were neatly placed on the big wooden shelves. It almost made him excited. So much knowledge and information were at the grasp of his fingertips. It was uncommon to see a store with these many books. In this day and age, real paperbacks have begun to diminish and be replaced with the Internet. It was cheaper, cost-effective, and not to mention more accessible, so it made sense why the popularity had declined. However, Sen always preferred the physical form.

Now let’s see… where could she be this time? This wasn’t the first time he would be meeting this mysterious individual. Ah, there she is.

Straight ahead of him, standing casually by the register, was the woman he was searching for. She had simple, long, sleek blonde hair, and her eyes were brown with hints of hazel. She was fidgeting with her glasses, appearing to be waiting for someone.

“Hello, Brittney,” Sen walked in front of the register. “I would like the usual novel, please.”

Brittney wasn’t actually her real name. The truth was Sen didn’t know her real name to begin with. All the details weren’t disclosed, but apparently, she fled from America and started living in Japan with a fake name and residency.

Sen could only guess it was because of her criminal activities—cough better yet (information gathering) in her home country. Sen presumed the American government was hunting her for treason. Simply put, she was a twenty-four-year-old hacker and data collector.

“Oh, you mean My Future Self? How did you like the previous book of that series? Quite interesting, correct?” Brittney murmured amusingly. Sen caught on to her sneaky language quickly and played along.

“Ah, it was indeed interesting. I really enjoyed the part where the main character's father wasn’t dead. I really hope that he would’ve found out sooner, though. Then he wouldn’t have wasted his time,” he hinted.

“Well, geez, aren’t you impatient,” Brittney snorted, seemingly giving up the fake code words of the conversation.

“Sorry, Britt,” he remarked apologetically. “I’m kind of in a rush right now. Maybe we can talk in different tongues later; sadly, I have to make my own birthday.”

“You’re what!!?” she exclaimed.

“Shhhhhh!” Sen shushed her. “Not so loud. Yes, my birthday is today, so just take the money and I’ll take the data, alright?” he urged her. But apparently, she wanted to be a complete pushover.

“NOPE!” she puffed, shaking her head. “I wasn’t invited to your birthday party. I’m not giving you any info unless you invite me right here, right now.”

Sen was having a headache just listening to her blabber on. For someone who hacked major corporations and sold private information to China, she was being awfully childish.

“I’m not having a birthday party, Brittney,” he gave out a tired sigh. “I’m just spending time with my family, that’s all. I do not intend to invite anyone.”

“Aww, meanie…” she pouted, her hazel eyes shining as she attempted to make puppy eyes. “Wait, that means you’re finally sixteen, right?” she gave into a grin while asking. Sen gave her a small nod. I don’t like where this is going.

“Hehehehe…” she gave out a soft, evil laughter. Well, this is definitely going where I thought it was going. Sen massaged his temples, feeling a splitting migraine already.

“That means you’re all mine now.” She licked her lips seductively. “Of course, if your family objects, but I’ll be honest, you won’t find a girl better than me.” Brittney puffed out her chest. It was true her natural beauty and body were nothing but the pinnacle of attractive standards, and especially for a boy around his age, most would probably give up every possible possession they had to have a one-night stand with her. Sadly, however—

“Sorry, Britt. I’m not looking for a relationship at the moment.”

“WHAT!” she quite literally burst out laughing in front of the other customers and readers in the library. A few eyed her tediously, wondering what the commotion was. “Guys, you won’t believe it! He just turned me down!”

It's good that most people around them took this outburst as a joke. Sadly, from experience, he knew it wasn’t. Brittney couldn’t stop laughing at his remark. Sen just wished he could actually get what he came here for. But apparently, that was too much to ask for. At this point, I doubt anyone would think she’s a well-known hacker. That's one way to throw off the feds.

“I don’t believe you! What are you, gay or something?” Brittney's eyes teared up from cackling. Sen wasn’t even sure how that related to the conversation.

“No, I’m not gay,” he assured her. “If I were to choose a person to marry, however, I most definitely would select a woman, preferably. I don’t really get how you came to that conclusion.”

“BLAH BLAH BLAH, fancy words, boo hoo!” she rolled her eyes. The fact she thought his words were hard to understand made him want to cry inside. How is she even a hacker?

Her clients must have a hard time believing that. Heck, even he still didn’t believe it. Sadly, however, he could testify to her capabilities. He had witnessed her masterful hacking and data-collecting skills firsthand. And it was an understatement to say they were good. Sen just wished he was acquainted with a male hacker instead of Brittney. That way, he didn’t have to worry about getting seduced by a woman every damn time he wanted info.

“If you don’t give me my info right now, I will never date you.”

It appeared that did the trick because Brittney immediately bit her tongue to keep herself from talking. She quickly nodded her head like an obedient puppy, giving him a yellow envelope and sliding it cautiously on the table. Well, it took long enough. In return, Sen slid his own envelope (containing money) on the register.

“Well, as always, I appreciate the business. I’ll tell you if I need your services once again,” Sen said, dipping his head and then leaving. But, of course, Brittney had something else to say.

“Wait, don’t go yet!”

I swear if she says anything about going on a date, I will abandon my association with her. But to his surprise, Brittney looked quite serious when he scrutinized her.

“I want you to open the envelope here,” she finally said. Sen narrowed his eyes cautiously.

It’s not often Brittney is very serious. Could this info actually give me some leads this time? All the information before this had been lackluster. Just the basic information, like his name and so on, even his mother had told him those things. It should've been deemed information in the first place. It was simply common knowledge to know your father’s name. Even that would get his mother nervous for some reason.

But his suspicion had only grown more and more since then. As he started his research, he quickly came to the conclusion that his father’s existence was practically wiped out from any actual important records. That includes his bank, ID, occupation records, etc.

Whenever Sen asked his mother for info about his father’s life, she often hesitated and completely changed the topic. She underestimated how seriously he took this. The family knew little to nothing about how deep he went searching for information. And if they ever did, they would surely think he had gone mad.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” she urged him to open the envelope. Giving an uneasy sigh, he tore the envelope aside and took out a white piece of paper with a few letters written. It read the following:

WWWQ.2344/Yami Huya / Social Security / [DELETED/CLASSIFIED]

WWWQ.2663/Yami Huya / Phone number / [DELETED/CLASSIFIED]

WWWQ.9983/Yami Huya / IP address / [DELETED/CLASSIFIED]

WWWQ.5634/Yami Huya / Aok / [CLASSIFIED]

WWWQ.8369/Yami Huya / Phone number / [DELETED/CLASSIFIED]

Sen shook his head unenthusiastically. It, indeed, was meaningless. All the information was truly gone.

“This was useless. This just confirms that all my father's important records are deleted.”

“Hmmm? Are you sure? Look at it again. What do you see?” she shiftily murmured. Sen wasn’t too sure what she was talking about. Everything was either deleted or classified. After repeatedly giving the page a quick overview, Sen was at a loss. Social Security, IP address, Phone number, Aok… wait a minute, Aok? Classified, but not deleted?

“That’s weird, Administration of Knights?” he murmured, pondering what this actually meant. Brittney’s eyes shone amusingly.

“Oh… the way you look when you’re thinking, it’s so CUTE!” she couldn’t contain her lust.

Sen decided not to comment on that. For a moment, he actually thought she would be serious, but he was yet again mistaken.

Getting back on topic… Aok or Administration of Knights. They are government corps in charge of eradicating monsters and criminals. Not to mention, they own all the Knight academies in Japan. Other Corps similar to this exist around all countries. They’re also in charge of facilitating the younger generation into becoming Knights. A few people I know are also participating in the exams to join an academy. So why is Aok on the list? he thought to himself. Of course, a few answers popped up in his proactive brain.

First, it could mean that his father had been associated with Aok before. Was Yami a Knight? It certainly was a possibility he couldn’t ignore. Since his mother had been very silent regarding his father's past, she never mentioned him as a Knight.

But one thing was certain about these documents… Only government officials can remove information to this degree. And why would they, in the first place, if his father was not an important individual?

More and more things started to dawn on him the more he pondered. He, of course, didn’t have any definitive proof that they had any relation to each other, but it simply was the only answer to why all his information seemed to be deleted or classified.

The Administration of Knights is tied to my father, huh? His sister and his only friend were taking an exam to join the AOK in a week's time, so how could he take advantage of this opportunity?

It was clear to him that if anyone had information, it would be people associated with the Aok. So, how could he even receive any information? Unless… I join the exams? It was an outlandish idea, but there were technically no rules against ‘Senseless’ people joining because of how nonexistent they were. If he got higher and higher in the academy, he was bound to come across more information.

That seemed like a simple idea. However, many things were stopping him from pursuing it. His mother was the first obstacle. She would, without a doubt, object to his request to join. The second obstacle was his sister, Hana.

To make things more complicated, Sen would also have to worry about his other acquaintances finding out he was simultaneously participating. His head was about to explode, and those weren’t even the most problematic drawbacks either.

The worst thing is that I need to bypass someone affiliated with AOK, who also happens to be my childhood friend's father.

And also someone who despises me…