Location: Kamakura: Kamiya Group Head Office

Time: Tokino-46 year (2106), Oct. 29 (Fr) 20:54

My father placed a piece of cloth and a knife on the table in front of me.

“You know what you have to do, Kanon.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“This is something you should have been prepared for. I never wanted you to be a part of this, but you’re the one who came begging to be a part of the family. You made your choices, now face the consequences. That’s our way.”

“No, but, that doesn’t apply to me, does it? I’m your daughter.”

I instinctively shivered as he slammed his fists into the table.

“Every member of this organization is my child. Don’t think for a moment you're better than any of them. Every member of the Kamiya Group is family. It doesn’t matter where they came from. And you betrayed the family.”

“I didn’t betray anyone. Things just, went wrong. I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

“Failure is betrayal. Your experiment drove Hassan mad, and now the organization that sent him is refusing to sell us opiates. Now do it.”

“It wasn’t my idea. That liaison, Hassan, he approached me about it. He heard that I summoned spirits and asked me to try summoning one into him. I didn’t want to, but he made me. He told me he wouldn’t make a deal with you unless I tried.”

My father leaned across the table and slapped me.

“I didn’t raise a child who makes excuses. That’s not our way. This is your last warning. Do it, or leave.”

Leave? I wasn’t so optimistic as to think he simply meant to leave the room, but how far did his order extend? Leave the family? Or maybe even leave the country?

Either way, he spoke with an intensity that couldn’t be denied. He wasn’t a person that I could ever beat.

I placed my left hand on the cloth he gave me. The detail on the embroidery was far too nice for what was about to happen to it. I picked up the knife and lined it up before pushing down with all my strength.

Even with a clean cut through the bone it took all I had to ignore the pain.

I lifted up my hand, but the third segment of my pinky remained on the bloody cloth. I carefully wrapped it up and handed it over to my father while bowing my head.

“Please accept this as atonement for my failings, Oyabun.”

The tears rolling off of my face started mixing with the blood on the table.

“No. This pinky was given to me as an apology for your failure. You have yet to atone. How will you make things right?”

“I will find Hassan, and bring him back to you. I will get appointed as an investigator in order to track him if he flees the country. And if I can’t get approval, I’ll track him using my own resources.”

“Go. I’ll give you permission to use the connections I made with the Free Cities. They already paid, but they won’t deny a request from the ones that supplied them with their most successful artificial human.”

His offer of aid only gave me more to be anxious about. By extending his hand to support me he was keeping it within striking distance. Allowing me to use his name was intended to force me into a dangerous position. Any future mistakes I made wouldn’t only reflect poorly on myself, I’d be dragging his name through the mud as well.

And if that were to happen, I wouldn’t get off with just a segment of my pinky.

“Thank you. I appreciate your kindness.” I wanted to refuse it, but that wasn’t possible. “I’ll find him. No matter what, I’ll bring Hassan back to you.”

“Of course. I’ll send someone from the family with you. Now leave. We have nothing more to discuss until you have Hassan.”

Was he sending someone to support me, or to make sure I don’t mess up any further? I wasn’t foolish enough to ask something like that. Whoever he sent with me, whatever his intention, I’d have to use them to do whatever I could.

I’d find Hassan. I’d bring him back. Whatever it took.

I bowed my head a final time before backing out of his office. Whether it was the position I was born into, the people I associated with, or even my own decisions, nothing surrounding me turned out right. Unfortunately, even at the beginning, this was still an epilogue on the taboo.