Requiem: Chapter 23

Mr Daiki Ayumu was extremely satisfied. He had won a nice bonus with the swap of the contents of Kathy Chang's locker.. The person who asked him to do this had first given him half of a thick bundle of banknotes as a hazard premium, and the rest after exchanging the contents by the video stick. Given the significant financial contribution of his client, Daiki did not ask himself any questions. For so long he dreamed of a trip to the Old World, to the land where, centuries ago, cowboys and Indians had once lived. The Grand Canyon see and then die. Or maybe first the Niagara Falls and Yosemite National Park, Death Valley, Rocky Mountains and Everglades and so much more. A wet dream!

Many Japanese had that same dream, but few had ever been after the Great War. The selection, despite the rapprochement, was rather strict but he did not worry about that. The cost had always been the only obstacle for him and many Japanese. The Old World made itself expensive for its sights. Capitalists, pfff, it had always been like this and it probably would never change. And that he was supposed to be chipped, he took it.. It seemed to be harmless and only useful as a safety measure in the Old World against the radiation zones.

There were regular Westerners in the New World, and they didn't seem like monsters or half-robots. Even Stephen March had been very common. Too bad the man probably did not find in the vault what he expected, but for the right price Daiki Ayumu wiped his few conscientious objections he still possessed under the tatami. He didn't get any younger, and he couldn't let such a chance fall off..

While with his left hand around the bundle of money he kept in his pocket and with his other hand opened the door of his apartment with his card key, he unfortunately did not hear the man who had approached him gently and quietly. Not that it would have made much difference. The next moment he fell out like a block into his apartment because of the hard neck blow and the poke in his back. Without Daiki giving a cry, everything went black before his eyes.