Chapter 373: Giving Face (1/2)

“Are we landing at Kansai International Airport?” Emi asked as she emerged from the cockpit. “It’s on an artificial island.”

Jason looked up from the book of astral magic theory he was reading.

“Sorry, moppet,” Jason told her. “I’d love to do some exploring with you but we’ve already had too many delays. Dropping right out of the sky should be fun, though, right?”

“What do you mean, right out the sky?” Erika asked.

“We’re going to fly right over Ashiya and jet suit down,” Jason explained.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Erika said. “I must have totally forgotten when you explained that YOU’RE GOING TO THROW US ALL OUT OF AN AEROPLANE!”

“Totally understandable,” Jason genially acknowledged. “It’s a busy time for everyone, so slips of the mind are only to be expected. Do we have an ETA, Shade?”

“I will be starting the descent to drop height in approximately nine minutes,” Shade said.

”You've told them we're about to arrive, right?” Jason asked Akari.

“Yes, I already got the estimated time from Shade and notified my father,” Akari said. ”He was a little thrown when I told him how we'd be arriving, but we're part of the Network, so very little is truly extraordinary.”

“Oh, so you told her about the jumping out a plane thing,” Erika said.

“We can’t go keeping things from her, Eri,” Jason said. “It may be distant but she’s family.”

“I’m your sister!”

“Exactly. Family is important,” Jason said.

“Shade,” Erika said. “Is there any chance you could drop Jason out of the plane now?”

“I’m sorry, Mrs Asano, but I believe Mr Asano is a necessary presence when we meet the Asano clan.”

“Fine,” she grumbled.

In a smaller cabin at the rear of the plane, Jason and Akari went over some last-minute details in preparation for meeting the Asano clan. It wasn’t anything they hadn’t already gone over but Jason wanted to be fresh when they hit the ground. When they were done, they stood up to join the others in the main cabin.

“Before we go,” Akari said, “are you sure that you’re up to this?”

“I’ll try not to take offence at that.”

“I’m just saying that you’ve been through a lot recently. Broken Hill and then Makassar, twice.”

“It’s bad, yeah,” Jason said. “But that’s the job.”

“Is it your job? You never actually joined the network.”

“No, I joined the Adventure Society, which means putting myself between the bad things and the people who aren’t equipped to face them. Jumping worlds doesn’t change that.”

“And this Adventure Society is some bastion of virtue, compared to the network?”

“Of course not, but they let you make your own choices. You just have to be willing to live with the consequences. My friend Rufus taught me that.”

“He also picked up some of Rufus’ bad habits,” Farrah said, opening the door. ”Get in here; we're about to jump out of a plane.”

Jason and Akari went in finding the rest of the passengers waiting for them.

“You know, it’s a lot easier to deflate Rufus’ sense of self-importance,” Farrah said. “He’s not actually responsible for saving the world.”

“What exactly are you saving the world from?” Asya asked. “The monster waves?”

“That’s a symptom,” Jason said. “I can leave that to the Network, ultimately. My concern is that they’re going to make the disease worse.”

“How?” Asya asked.

“Imagine a house on stilts,” Jason said. ”There are so many stilts that the house is nice and stable until someone comes along and starts messing with the stilts and introduces a decaying factor. Magic termites or something. Things get wonky and people start taking a look at the stilts. They figure out how to slow down the decay, but then they realise that the stilts are made of solid gold. Do you trust them to leave the gold where it is because it’s keeping the house from collapsing?”

“What are you saying?” Asya asked.

“He’s saying,” Farrah said, “that after the grid comes back up, there’s going to be a magical gold rush. Unfortunately, every lump of gold that’s dug up brings your world a little closer to collapsing. There’s a lot of gold down there, so it won’t seem like anything is happening at first. By the time you start noticing the effects, it will be too late.”

“That’s why you didn’t tell me before. You don’t trust the Network.”

“No,” Jason said. “I trust people, not institutions. I’ll trust the people in the Network or the Adventure Society, but as a whole, you have to be careful.”

“The Network won’t do something destructive to the world,” Asya said. “They wouldn’t.”

“I hope that’s true,” Jason said. “But when they see the Cabal and the EOA reaping the benefits, will the Network really stand still? Every branch?”

Asya looked uneasy, not answering. Jason put comforting hands on her shoulders.

”I'll give you a proper, thorough explanation once we're on the ground and settled. I just need to get my hands on something before anyone else finds out about it.”

“Mr Asano,” Shade said. “We are approaching the drop zone.”

“Alright,” Jason said. “Everyone hold still while Shade suits us up.”

Jason and Farrah could both fly but were put in jet suits anyway, for better flight uniformity.

“This is awesome,” Emi said.

“It’s reckless,” Erika said. “Planes are meant for landing.”

”Technically, he's not a plane,” Jason said. ”He's the living shadow of death itself. Actually, that doesn't make it sound safer, does it?”

“No,” Erika said, drilling a glare into him. “No, it doesn’t.”

“I anticipate it being a novel experience,” Yumi confided in Emi. “I’ve been back to Japan several times since I was young, but this promises to be a rather unique visit from the outset.”

“See?” Jason asked. “Even Nanna is keen.”

Yumi’s glare joined Erika’s in latching onto Jason.

“See?” Jason asked. “Even Grandmother is keen. It feels weird calling you Grandmother when we look the same age. Can I just call you Yumi?”