Slap!
Arron’s face was smacked hard, waking him from his drugged stupor.
“Huh?” he looked around trying to figure out where he was and who had just slapped him in the face.
“You were not waking up so I had to take matters into my own hands, no pun intended. But damn, is your face made of metal?” asked Enk as he shook his hand that was still stinging from the hard slap.
The last sentence entered Arron’s ears and woke him up faster than anything else as the fear of being found out that he was wearing a mask was far too close to comfort!
With his mind clearing up the numbing pain announced itself to Arron with wave after wave of throbbing pain attacking his chest, arm, and back.
The throbbing pain in both his chest, arm, and back was all from the chemicals and inks that had been used in the inking. It felt as if his skin was being eaten away by those chemicals.
Enk continued to inspect the Irezumi for a minute or so as Arron was silently screaming inside due to the pain, but he only grit his teeth and endured the pain not showing any weakness to Enk. To try and take his mind off the pain he also turned his head to look at the new permanent addition to his body.
Enk finished his inspection and said, “It is indeed a great work of art! … ‘cough’… I may have gone overboard a bit… but I think it was worth it.”
“Overboard? Is that why it feels like the chemicals are trying to kill me?”
“No, that’s normal. You just need to suck it up and deal with it,” said Enk as he grabbed a black bottle from the hovering metal plate and held it out for Arron to take.
Arron tried to move his left arm to grab it but it did not want to listen to him as the raw feeling in his arm and chest interfered with all his senses causing the left arm to be limp and unresponsive.
He had to use his metallic right hand to grab the bottle and pocket it.
“Those should help you for the next few days. Only take a maximum of two in a 24-hour period. Or you could die. These are far stronger than anything you can get from the hospitals.”
Arron did not plan on using them but… it never hurt to have something just in case.
“Stand up so you can see the full wonder of my masterpiece. Then we can finish this process of inking.”
Enk grabbed Arron’s left arm and helped yank him up causing him to feel a great jolt of pain through his body.
“Ah, sorry about that… wrong arm,” said Enk.
A holographic three-way mirror rose up from the ground and reflected Arron’s upper body and left arm revealing the new Irezumi inking in all of its glory.
His skin all around the area that had been inked up was a raw red and shiny from the moisturizer that had been added to his skin.
The Irezumi inking started with a Blue dragon tail on his lower palm which wrapped around his wrist and coiled around his lower left arm all the way up to his upper arm where the rest of the dragon’s body extended out over his shoulder and left chest. The dragon’s head on his chest was roaring with blue flames spurting out of its mouth and nostrils. Arron turned a bit and looked at the back of his left shoulder. There was a pair of blue wings that were also connected to the Irezumi on his arm and chest.
With the slightest movement from Arron, the holographic dragon came to life and moved about roaring at him and causing the flame to shimmer and move.
With different angles and lighting, Arron could see the dragon doing different things. It was truly a mesmerizing thing that he almost lost himself in thought only to be brought back to reality.
‘Cough’
“I know it is a great masterpiece… but you still have work to do today, so you can’t stay here forever,” said Enk.
“Work? What about this?” asked Arron pointing to his limp left arm.
“Normally everyone gets a day or so to recover but this took longer than expected,” said Enk looking away from Arron’s gaze.
Internally Arron was silently screaming to himself, ‘What have you done!’. Now that his mind was completely clear, the realization of the full ramifications of both his decision and Enk’s extra detail now came crashing down on him.
This was permanent! There was no way to remove such a thing unless you tore your skin off. Since this was the case he would forever be marked as a member in the Ryu yakuza family and be part of the yakuza system. Each family had different designs they allowed and some had only one or two that they used and were like a trademark that those in the know could use to know where someone was from. But the Ryu family did not restrict its members too much in order to help keep the members anonymous if they were ever caught by the Office of Reason agents.
In a rare weak moment, he had done something so stupid and let his feelings get the better of him. Now he would definitely be added to the Office of Reasons database after this mission was finished. This would be one more thing they would use against him even though it was done under their orders.
As Arron was deep in thought a drone dropped from a hole in the ceiling and had a roll of thin clear filament pop out. It quickly began wrapping Arron’s arm, upper chest, and back. When it was complete a hot air gun popped out from inside the drone and it began to slowly shrink the loose filament and cause it to form to his body.
“This should last you a week. Which is enough for everything to have set properly,” said Enk as he tapped on his wrist-datapad.
A low hiss was heard as a hidden door at the end of the room opened up and revealed a dark hallway. The Ryu family sure loved its hidden doors but this was to be expected with the constant battles that they, along with the other families, had with the Office of Reason and its infiltrating agents.
Without further explanation needed Arron walked through the doorway and down the hallway. As he looked around he noticed several recently dried bloody footprints on the ground which he could only guess how they appeared here.
When he reached the end of the hallway a thick metal door was blocking his path. A red sensor blinked into existence and quickly scanned his entire body, spending a second or so longer as it scanned his arm, chest, and back which was still throbbing in pain.
[Member Sorry…. profile updated! Welcome to the family!] chimed a robotic voice as the metal door hissed open.
As he stepped through the door several gazes all zeroed in on him. They all looked at his face to see who he was and then at his arm.
The room was filled with Mentors of the recently graduated members who were waiting for their mentees to pass through the door.
When they all saw his Irezumi tattoo there was shock on many of their faces as they turned to Ox who only shrugged.
Ox walled up to Arron and extended his left hand out to Arron, who was embarrassed at being unable to grab it with his own left hand and instead had to use his right hand causing Ox to smile and switch to his right hand as well shaking Arron’s metal arm vigorously.
“Congratulations. I no longer have to babysit you everyday.”
“Thanks?” said Arron, not sure how to reply to that.
“We should head to a different room so that we can discuss some important things in private.”
Arron nodded his head and followed Ox out of the room and into another winding tunnel until they reached an empty stone room.
“You have the pills in the black bottle?” was the first thing OX asked when the door shut.
“Yes…” said Arron.
“You better take one of them so that you can use your arm again. There has been an important matter that just sprung up on us and you only having the use of one arm will bring unwanted attention to yourself and the family.”
“Is this why I have to work today?”
“It is. You are actually late, they have been waiting for a few hours now.”
“Who?”
“Black-suit agents from the Office of Reason.”
“The Office of Reason? What are they doing here?” asked Arron his voice nearly cracking in worry that they were either here for him. Would they be able to find out about him being an undercover agent for another Office of Reason agent?
“Calm down. It’s not a raid or anything. Mother and Father just passed new regulations and the Office of Reason has been going around to every business to make sure that they are following them. This is just a routine thing,” said Ox as he tapped on his wrist-datapad and swiped a file over to Arron.
“What does this have to do with me?” asked Arron after reading it.
“Since you are now a member and part of the special management branch. You will be taking over the territory previously run by a former member. You should be familiar with it as we have been looking over most of it together during your probationary stage. You need to remember that you are just a normal young business owner. For your safety, and the safety of the family stick to that story. You are not allowed to reveal your connections with the family to the black suits. Otherwise, you will end up like your predecessor. ”
“What happened to him? And isn’t it already an open secret that the families own these businesses?”
“From the rumors I heard, he was tortured for over a month as they tried to gain information out of him. He went insane from the torture and only then did they permanently normalize him. So you need to keep your mouth shut even if you think they know who you really are. They won’t do anything as long as you keep your mouth shut on the matter and don’t give them any reason to normalize you. I’m sure they don’t want to start another blood war just like the families don’t want one either.”
“This makes no sense, the Office of Reason’s…” said Arron.
Ox held up his hand, “It’s politics. Of course, it makes no sense. Take your pill and use the Mag-shoot to reach the first floor. The agents should be waiting in room #23. When dealing with the agents you are not Ark Fune or Sorry anymore. Your name will be Al and you are an eccentric rich mogul that has struck it rich after selling a factory to a megacorp.”
Arron’s mind was slowly breaking down trying to remember all his aliases. He was disguised as a nonexistent man to fool the Ryu family and now on top of that, he had to play the role of another man so that he could fool the Office of Reason agents.
‘Despite what Ox and the other families believe… the Office of Reason definitely is trying to stir the pot,’ thought Arron.
While on the Mag-shoot he swallowed one of the pills without using any liquids to wash it down.
Enk had not lied when he said it was strong. He could feel it taking effect as he stepped off the mag-shoot and walked down the hallways to room #23.
When he reached the room he took a deep breath and let it out slowly as he tried to calm himself down and to get his head straight on the new role he had to play.
When he had calmed down enough he knocked on the door and then entered the room.
