Café de Nuit

(Excerpt from the journals of Alexander Dreamfire, Salt Lake City, UT, July 26, 2011)
The OSA has given me and Kyra and assignment but not one in the States. It's over in Japan, a request from a government-backed organization called the Phantom Hunters Society. There has been some trouble with an abandoned shrine near an isolated mountain town and the PHS can't figure out what's going on. They have a miko on their team but she's not terribly experienced yet. Their primary folklorist only knows it's a shrine to a fox-god and there was some sort of taboo in the town about approaching the shrine after dark. Not much to go on given how rich and diverse Japan's mythology is. Especially with countless regional stories and, I fear, real incidents in the past.

As I write this we're waiting in the lounge for our flight. There isn't much we can do to plan anything out given what information we have and that's visibly eating at Kyra. I guess it goes with being an archivist since information is their bread and butter. As much as I like to know more about what I'll face, I've gotten used to encounters in the field being my first and only way to find out so it doesn't bother me. But I concede it's a bad idea if we're really facing something caused by or linked to a fox spirit. They're one of the most powerful types of spirit beings and it's very easy to offend them even if you observe all the proper rituals and protocols of etiquette. They won't hesitate to attack even other spirits, including me and Kyra, if they judge us easy prey.

(Excerpt from the journals of Alexander Dreamfire, Nohoro, Japan, July 28, 2011)
We were met by Kobayashi Nagisa and Kisaragi Mitsuki at the airport, the folklorist and miko respectively. The rest of the team had already gone ahead to the town while they waited to escort us there. After a sixteen-hour flight we had to decompress on a three-hour train ride and then another two by truck on a poorly maintained road to the town. On the way there they both explained what little they could and even showed us a document in the Spirit Language they couldn't translate. It was a warning not to unseal "the wretched souls of the dead who refuse to move on to the afterlife and are kept secure behind the portal [gate] of the inner shrine." So we weren't going to necessarily face a fox spirit but angry ghosts. The vellum it was written on wasn't all that old, either. Maybe two centuries at most. References to "bloody-minded warriors who refuse to believe their time is over" make me think it was written after Commodore Perry "opened" Japan to Western trade and the country was rapidly industrializing. It was a time of major changes and the samurai, especially, didn't take them well. If these ghosts dated back to that time, they would be absolutely furious with both the living and their likely violent and ignoble deaths.

But why write using a language only the most dedicated kannushi (male Shinto priests) and miko could even read? And who had written it? And who had trapped the ghosts in the shrine? Kobayashi-san confirmed the last caretakers of the shrine were killed in a battle with rebel samurai and there were no records of anyone coming to imprison the angry souls. The people of the town had records of praying fervently to the god of the shrine to end their terror and then nothing. It was like the events just ended without any visible intervention. Maybe there really is a fox spirit involved?

The town itself won't prove to be any sort of help. When we got there, the place was abandoned. Not like the people living there had fled but as though they had vanished. Businesses were still open and unlocked, food was still sitting on tables, even TVs were still on and tuned to various channels. The others of the Phantom Hunters' Society had scoured the town looking for anyone and come up empty. People's shoes were still in the entryways of houses, too. But I did find trails indicating the people had left under their own power, all of them leading into the surrounding forest. By then it was getting dark and the PHS members weren't eager to go into the wilderness at night.

Instead I followed the trails alone, all of them converging onto one clearly treaded path that led higher into the mountain and ended at the foot of a small stone shrine. Immediately I was hit by the odor of rotting flesh and spilled blood but no sight of such. It wasn't hard to find the source, bodies that looked like they'd been dead for weeks and contorted into expressions of abject terror. All spread across the forest floor like the victims had tried to run but were chased down. But were they the bodies of the town's citizens? These had clearly been dead for weeks while everything in town pointed to a mass exodus just a day earlier at most.

Speaking to one, I confirmed they were, indeed, the townsfolk. She told me that they had all heard a strange song coming from the forest after sunset and were unable to stop following it to the shrine. Once there, the song ended and "glowing men dressed like samurai in the movies, covered in blood and deep wounds, appeared and began to attack them all." Some ran but most were paralyzed by overwhelming fear. As each was cut down, their flesh began to visibly decay. The woman I was talking to was one of the last to die, running straight into the blade of a naginata (Japanese polearm) held by a ghost whose head was cleaved in two. She could actually see her flesh rotting the second before death came.

I ran back to the others still in town and led them to what I'd found. It's too dangerous to call in the authorities until we're certain the ghosts won't attack or we've put them to rest. This is all so gruesome and lends an extra edge to what we're doing. We're not just dealing with angry ghosts, we're dealing with powerful angry ghosts. Ones who can slaughter an entire town and corrupt the bodies of the dead. Yet something the dead woman told me feels important. They were lured out after sunset. Are these spirits weakened by sunlight? Or is it something else?

We've stumbled onto something none of us were prepared for. It's going to be a long night.
(End transmission)

(Excerpt from the journals of Alexander Dreamfire, Nohoro, Japan, July 29, 2011)
I took first watch so Kyra could rest and regain her spells. The town's streetlights still came on automatically and gave the place an almost peaceful look at night. But the knowledge of what had happened just kept creeping back into my mind and gave everything a foreboding cast. Likewise, the Near Ethereal was oddly quiet and subdued. My attentions were focused so much on looking for any sign the ghosts were coming I almost missed a small form moving about and spying on me and the trailers the other were sleeping inside. Out of the periphery I could make out that it was a fox but with more than one tail. From that angle I couldn't get an accurate count but on a whim I spoke to it in the Spirit Language. It cocked its head and I took another risk by deactivating my hat of alteration so my true form was visible.

That caught its full attention and it approached, turning into a young girl but with nine fox tails. I immediately broke out into a cold sweat as I realized what I was in the presence of. It--she--just walked up to me and looked me over while I stood perfectly still before finally asking what a dream spirit was doing there. When I mentioned the ghosts she just scoffed and told me it was "the dumb humans' fault for breaking the seal." She then explained she'd seen men in uniforms and wearing hardhats at the shrine one night, one of whom touched a badly decaying sacred rope and caused it to finally snap. "It took every ounce of energy I had to seal those ghosts up the first time. Then the people stopped coming to worship and forgot about me so I don't have the power to do it again."

When I asked her if restoring the sacred rope would seal them away again, she laughed. They would have to be forced back into their prison for that to work. As for what was binding them to this world, the villagers had stolen their swords and kept them as trophies. I couldn't help but wince at that; a samurai's sword is considered an extension of their soul. Anyone else touching it without permission would have been killed immediately and taking it from a fallen warrior could spawn a vengeful ghost if their death was traumatic enough. I understand that the samurai were not seen as the good guys in the real world during the Meiji Restoration, and many abandoned the tenets of bushido to preserve their way of life, but no wonder these ghosts were so vengeful.

So we know why they remain in the living world. But the powers they've displayed are ones I've only ever seen possessed by the truly evil dead and they can't be imprisoned again without the help of Anaki, the fox spirit. If we knew where their graves were, it would be a simple matter to return their swords to them and have them pass on. If they don't have graves, their swords might be the only weapons that can permanently destroy them. And even that's just a theory.

When Kyra woke up and took over the watch, I told her what had happened. She understood exactly what I was getting at and recommended we search the town's records after dawn. The others weren't as credulous about the fact I'd talked to the resident "guardian" but did agree that finding out who had those swords and where the ghosts' remains were would be the most effective course of action. Unfortunately our search through the records proved largely useless. The people who had taken the blades didn't have surnames as was the culture of the time so we couldn't match which families might have them. Nor was there any mention of what happened to them after they were taken or where the bodies of the dead samurai ended up. We will have to search each and every building looking for them. To make matters worse, the town has a large number of katanas dating back to the Second World War given the number of commanders Nohoro contributed to the military. Kyra, Mitsuki, and I can determine which ones carry the spiritual taint but just touching them will undoubtedly draw the ire of the ghosts to the one that does so. Thus we need to be sure that as few people actually do as necessary.

The ghost won't attack anyone who doesn't "defile" their swords, so we feel confident in calling in the authorities to collect the bodies. I spent the last hours of the day asking each who they were in life and placing tags with their names on them so they can be identified and any family notified. They should be here tomorrow while we locate the swords in question. Anaki, who kept hanging around me and Kyra all day, indicated there are eight ghosts so we're looking for eight specific blades. She also mentioned the ghosts were devout followers of Amaterasu-o-mi-kami in life and avoided sunlight "out of shame at what they've become." As for where the bodies are, she doesn't know. Kyra and I will have to capture one and interrogate them once we've found one of the missing swords. If any or all of them were cremated, their blades will have to be destroyed. Not just broken but disintegrated to sever their connection to this world.

As for who those men that broke the seal were, we did find something. The town's mayor was in talks with a company to build a resort and bring tourist money in. Likely the men were surveyors and have no idea what they did and no way of knowing what they caused. I don't plan on trying to inform them, either. They'd either think I was crazy or do something drastic out of guilt if they believed me. All that really matters is putting the ghosts to rest or destroying them if necessary. And for that, we've still got a lot of work ahead of us.
(End transmission)

(Excerpt from the journals of Alexander Dreamfire, Nohoro, Japan, July 31, 2011)
It's been two days since I last wrote and we've been busy searching every building in the town, as well as shutting down anything left on and otherwise cleaning things up out of respect for the dead. The authorities came in and quickly claimed the bodies, which after just three days were pitted bone and blackened flesh. While talking with them they remarked how unnatural the decay was acting since they could actually see the remains rot in real time. They're treating it like some sort of infection or chemical contamination but we know they'll find nothing of the sort. There was something very strange going on; Kyra and I both noticed it when we tried to use spells and powers to detect the undead. The place was saturated with necromantic energies. So much so we couldn't detect anything beyond a nearly overwhelming aura of deathly power.

Our work did turn up seven of the eight swords we need, though the last one is proving elusive. I took one last night and waited for the ghost that owned it to appear while Kyra stood ready and trapped it in bindings of pure magical force. Getting through the madness and obsession of death was almost impossible until sunup, when suddenly the spirit seemed to calm down and regain his composure. The following is a transcription of the brief exchange we had.

Alex: Can you speak?
Unknown Ghost (never identified): Yes, I am calm. The touch of Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto drives us crazy. But the touch of Amaterasu-o-mi-Kami calms us. It is shameful for a warrior to behave like that.
Alex: I wish to return your sword to you. But I must know where your body lies.
UG: We were all buried under the shrine. Behind the ropes.
Alex: Will you be at rest if your sword is returned to you?
UG: Yes! We just want the dishonor to end. Look at the tsuba. They match the insignias we all bear.
Alex: I will hold you to that on pain of destruction.
Alex: One last question. Did you cause the rapid decay of the villagers' bodies? If not, who?
UG: We did not. The one who brought us back did. It dwells in the house of the village leader.

Kyra let the ghost go and he fled in the direction of the shrine. I followed and watched him sink into the soil, breaking out the old trench spade to quickly excavate the ground. Seven of the bodies were nothing more than bone, with an eighth looking mummified. True to his word, the guard matched a design on an amulet one was wearing. As soon as I laid the blade with it I sensed something "leave" the area, a presence.

By then it was late afternoon and I was filthy and tired from digging and running back and forth between the town and the shrine seven times. I did take the time to cover the ones we'd laid to rest before returning and enjoying a hot shower. The others spent the rest of the day looking for that last sword but came up empty. I fell asleep pondering the state of the bodies. They'd been mummified, as if buried in sand or volcanic ash and not the moist earth of the surrounding geology. Or killed by a spell that dehydrated their bodies completely. Either would explain the state of the bodies.

I was awoken by Anaki around three in the afternoon. She'd found the mayor's house but encountered something she couldn't do a thing about. When I followed her I saw what she meant: a powerful ward specifically barring spirits. Had Kyra been there, she could have identified it at a glance. Instead, she was still fast asleep from our little adventure the night before. What I could discern was that the thing was also linked to an alarm spell if it was dispelled or forced through. Worse, it caused painful burns and welts on my flesh when I dared touch it. Enough that I dared not try to pass through unless I wanted to be bleeding from a literal thousand cuts. The best way to bypass this thing would be to send in a mortal or somehow spoof it. The former would be dangerous since none of the mortals around would be a match for whatever might be hiding behind it.

We waited for Kyra to wake up and take a look, instead. I was right; she took one look at it and recognized it as a custom spell designed to bar or kill any spirit that dared pass through it. But it had a serious flaw: it was anchored to a circle drawn nearby that would dismiss the spell if it was marred in any way. Mitsu-chan volunteered to pass through and take a look, accidentally breaking the circle by tripping on a loose rock and scuffing it. It was something out of a bad comedy but it worked.

The ward was hiding a secret room of bare concrete lit by a single overhead bulb. On the floor was a crude magic circle with a piece of jade in the center and a katana next to it, the missing sword. But the jade? That was emitting an overwhelming aura of magic and I quickly realized what it was: a phylactery!

That's when the mayor--or what looked like the mayor--teleported in and attacked. Underneath the illusion he was a skeletal figure dressed in a tattered kimono that once fit a high-ranking courtier in the Emperor's Court. The majority of its spells fizzled out against Kobayashi-san and Mitsu-chan, courtesy of Kyra casting greater spell immunity on them before we entered and had no real effect on either of us. I didn't think; I just drew my mind blade and attacked, pinning it against the wall and then channeling celestial conduit at the most potent I could manifest through its body. We could see its spirit leave its ruined form and enter the jade. Kyra immediately smashed it with her rod and shattered it with a couple of blows. We lost light for several seconds after a shockwave emanated from it, only for it to come back on like nothing had happened.

Our two mortal acquaintances were confused by what had just happened while Kyra and I just shook uncontrollably. We just destroyed a lich! One that we outclassed and clearly lacked any arsenal of magical items, but still a creature that could cause untold mayhem. One that had caused uncontrolled mayhem. It was sheer dumb luck no one was killed, much less even injured. Suddenly that aura of necromantic energies made sense: it was a screen to hide the creature while it did...whatever it was. A search of the house turned up nothing beyond a journal dated over a century and a half ago, the mayor's when he really was a courtier to the Emperor, complaining about how "barbaric foreigners were ruining Nippon." The papyrus was certainly aged enough to be authentic but there were no other records. A quick postcognition showed him burning several scrolls a few years earlier, likely what he'd written over all this time.

It was unsatisfying and left so much unanswered. Why was a lich posing as the mayor? What was his goal in stealing and distributing the swords to the people so the ghosts would attack them and depopulate the town? The rapid decay of the bodies next to the shrine was a clear mark of disdain and an attempt at desecrating it further, that much we both could guess. But that just raised even more questions about why.

After we returned the final sword and held final funereal rights for the villagers, all of us sat down and began figuring out what we'd tell the authorities. There was no way they'd believe that an ancient, undead bureaucrat had stolen swords and used them to summon back the ghosts of samurai to murder the entire town. Nor could we explain the state of the bodies; no animal, plant, or pathogen could cause the damage they suffered in such a short time. Even the heat and humidity wouldn't pit the bones. In the end we agreed that this would be left "inconclusive" to the mundane world, another unexplained mystery for history to ponder.

Then there was one last thing to take care of: "punishing" the guardian spirit for failing to stop this.

Anaki was understandably hesitant to face me. She was the guardian spirit of the shrine and had missed an intruder desecrating it, even mistaking it for one of the people she was supposed to guard. I don't know the specifics, but in spirit cultures across the multiverse it's a major crime to fail at a task like that. My people failed to stop the true Nightmare Court from gaining access to the Web of Dreams and we've been atoning for it for eons. A spirit of higher "rank" must pass judgement on the offender and determine a suitable punishment. That meant I had to give her a task to perform to make up for this laxity. Really, I could think of only one that fit: tutoring Mitsuki in the ways of magic and the spirits until she was able to drive away her new teacher with her powers. At that point the young miko would no longer need guidance and could stand on her own.

The fox-spirit took on humanoid form for the first time since we'd met and I was a bit shocked. She was an albino, white hair and almost-translucent skin with red eyes, not merely a fox with a white coat. Though she did retain her nine tails in humanoid form as the legends say. She immediately introduced herself to her new student, albeit invisible and inaudible to the others, and I had to hold back a laugh. They were going to make for an interesting pair for the Phantom Hunters Society.

Tomorrow after we've rested, Kyra and I will teleport home. This whole case was one giant mess filled with blunders. In trying to solve one problem, we risked getting our new acquaintances killed because of our lack of foresight. Instead of first figuring out how to dispel the necromantic energies permeating the town, we dismissed it. Worst of all, instead of investigating the evidence we had, we just acted without thinking. There's just no denying that we screwed up and repeatedly made amateur mistakes. It's sheer dumb luck and Kyra's quick thinking that nobody was killed, much less injured, when we stumbled onto the lich's lair.
(End transmission)

(Excerpt from the journals of Alexander Dreamfire, Draper, UT, Aug. 2, 2011)
In looking at what we did and didn't do in Nohoro, Kyra and I came to the same conclusion: we've had it too easy in this world when it came to confronting the supernatural. When it's just us or with Brianna and Maxine, we easily steamroll over most anything that comes our way. But it wasn't just us in Japan and that put others in serious danger. I don't remember having the same issue in the Land of Mists but, that's because I was never sure of what I was facing and took the time to find out first. In this world, we're both just too quick to jump into action and deal with the consequences as they happen.

At least with Gamma Squad, I'm following military protocol and not putting the others in unnecessary danger on missions. I really need to start doing the same thing outside of such. Power has many traps and the ones who pay are rarely those who have that power.

(Excerpt from the journals of Alexander Dreamfire, Draper, UT, Aug. 8, 2011)
The UN Security Council is talking more "budget cuts" for the BSAA and "better cooperation with national agencies and NGOs." All I hear is, "neuter the BSAA because it's a hindrance to politics and personal gains." I'm not going to pretend the agency is perfect or that we're not better off than we were under the control of the Global Pharmaceutical Consortium, but the past six years has followed an alarmingly similar path to what it was like under the GPC. Every year funding gets tighter, more restrictions are placed on our jurisdiction, and countries like the US and China try to block us out more and more. My gut is telling me that last bit isn't a coincidence, especially given everything I've learned over these past few years.

When the BSAA first joined the UN, we were still largely independent and only relied on them for funding. Then the member states started to pressure the bureaucrats to enforce more and more control over us because we kept exposing things they wanted to hide. Now the Security Council has us under its thumb and our own leaders take their dancing orders from them. The frivolous missions Gamma Squad keeps getting feel like more than just a distraction; they're a concerted effort at burning us out and possibly discrediting us. I've seen it happen before when a group within an organization is too effective and unwilling to simply ignore what they find.

To that end, I used some verbal acrobatics to trick our leaders into giving the heads of each squad the right to pick and choose what missions they go on based on independent intel and the capabilities of the squad. Just one of the talking heads seemed to realize what I did and he was overruled by the rest into making it a written rule. Honestly, I'm ambivalent about this. It gives us more control back and will certainly help cut down on the waste we've been experiencing. But, it also paints a giant target on the backs of every squad leaders head, mine especially. The bureaucrats will try to make us personally responsible when things inevitably go wrong using this new rule. Which is why I've spent the past few hours drafting the most airtight and ironclad version I can think of. I know it will be repealed eventually but, for now, it will hopefully alleviate the pressure.

I also have to say that I don't see myself sticking with the BSAA is things continue like this. It's a pattern of control that always winds up with the group being turned into something that completely perverts its original purpose. There have always been rumblings of the BSAA using bioweapons themselves but, the officers and the troops have always refused to even consider it. In the end, those who hold the reins drive out the opposition and replace them with yes-men over a matter of time. I can all too easily see the BSAA using BOWs in a "fight fire with fire" mentality. And I refuse to be party to that.

For now, I'm quietly planning my resignation in the next few years. Including reclaiming what is technically mine: the cores of the Dawn Scanners. The bodies were paid for by the BSAA but, they're useless without the cores. Overpriced tactical communication headsets with no scanning ability whatsoever. My plan is to redesign things to make them smaller and more powerful once I do leave. Only I need information I can't get in this world to do it. So I plan to create a beacon in my dreams and set it loose in the hopes my people will find it and respond. It's a faint hope at best, though. And I really don't expect anything to come of it. Then again, what do I have to lose by trying?
(End transfer)

(Excerpt from the journals of Alexander Dreamfire, Draper, UT, Aug. 29, 2011)
I feel like I've spent the last three weeks in a total haze. Paperwork, meetings, home. Every single day, the same thing: fill things out, tell the bureaucrats what they want to hear even if it means absolutely nothing, head home. As far the talking heads are concerned, they've reined me in now and have finally stopped watching me like a hawk. All the while I've been compiling and collating every single battle report, after action report, and scientific study on the Viruses and the Plagas the BSAA has on my PDA. As much to keep copies that bad actors can't access as to revise everything I once believed I knew about both.

At the same time, I've been juggling numbers to counter the budget cuts. The quarterly budget report isn't for another two months but the talking heads are not going to be happy when it does. They've completely failed to cut costs in actual practice. As much as they act like total idiots, bureaucrats are surprisingly sharp when it comes to two things: money and power. I've effectively ruined their plans for both and they're going to make my life a living hell however they can when they realize it. That's actually a key part of my plan: keep them focused on me while others do the job the BSAA was created to do.

Not that the same bureaucrats aren't proposing some very disturbing measures. Perhaps the worst is the proposed use of BOWs to counter the same. If every single example of the Tyrants, the Hunters and their numerous variants, and several other mutants I can't even remember off the cuff going out of control in actual combat conditions aren't enough to convince them that it's a horrible idea, nothing is. Right now it's entirely theoretical because the world is still raw from things like the Terragrigia Incident and the BSAA's current leadership is vehemently opposed to it. But people forget all too quickly and leaders can be replaced with yes-men. It's not a matter of if the BSAA will become that hypocritical, it's when.

Which leaves me with one question: what do I do after I resign? Stock trading is pretty simple and wouldn't even begin to be enough to fill my days. It's my current source of new income even now. Given that I do have a choice, I think I'll become a cop or sheriff's deputy. It wouldn't be all that different from what I did in Raccoon City before the outbreak, just official because I'd be an actual sworn officer instead of a special consultant. Plus I'm a protector at heart. It makes the most sense.

Kyra is fully behind me becoming such. Even if it means we'd have to move somewhere else. Neither of us have that many connections to where we live now. But Brianna and Maxine do. Brianna is an official agent of the Office of Supernatural Affairs while Maxine refuses to give up on the BSAA, both have friend groups here, and aren't keen on the idea of leaving. Kyra and I may not have a choice; the acrimony that's already building between me and the bureaucrats is only getting worse over time and it's going to take something truly unforgivable for me to take that final step. When I do so, it's not going to be a quiet thing or over some minor issue.

Maybe it's the stress, but lately I've been finding my dreams referencing Silent Hill again, as well. I scour such when it happens but that doesn't stop them from returning. I pray to Detriana this isn't the town itself trying to pull me back in and really is just my subconscious trying to tell me something. Ironic that, as a part of a race inextricably linked to dreams, I still struggle with trying to understand such.
(end transmission)