The Other Side of the Deck

How many cards?

I'll take two.

Let me see... I'll have one.

Noir Corne?

I'm out.

Luck's not smiling today, eh, bro?

Aw, man, I bet it's because I took the wrong mask out! Dammit.

Been busy enough recently, huh? I heard you were helping ops with simulation training, all on top of your run of field missions.

Nah, an extra shift once in a while's no big.

And I mean, I like training with all the newcomers. Youngsters with a love for life.

Haven't you always been pretty popular, Noir?

When I first arrived, I saw your mask, and I thought 'old, serious mentor type.' Swear I didn't even dare talk to you. Who knew you'd take me for drinks right after training, eh...

Wait, old mentor? Am I really that old? If you don't take that back, your next round's not on me!

As a bro! I mean as a solid, dependable bro.

Hey, bro. I'll take another card.

You know, Dylan, if you got out more and spent less time crammed in your cockpit, you'd be more popular too.

Forget it, goofing off in there suits me. If Noir didn't invite me, I wouldn't have wanted to come out.

...I'm more of the hiding sort too.

Last time I saw Noir Corne and the Doctor show up together, I ducked behind a wall on sheer reflex.

Haha, that's just you overreacting, isn't it?

I can't help it. After we got back from Lungmen, I had nightmares a couple straight days in a row.

It takes a lot of guts to keep working with Dr. Kal'tsit watching, and then when I saw the Doctor and all the others in the squad at the time, and the herd showing up in front of us...

That was... a terrifying scene.

Man, that's just rough, bud. What about you, Noir? You went too, right?

I'm good enough.

But that battle was pretty intense. Can't blame Chard. Even I'm still a little stressed about it.

...I'll have another glass. Talking about this made me break a sweat.

Yeah, me too, gimme the... Water of Life with vanilla soda!

Not gonna drink, Noir?

I'll pass.

Yo, you're worried Yato's gonna tell you off, huh? Never seen you hold back before.

Hey, hey. I'm older than you guys. Lay off the wisecracks.

—I'll give you the double-demon killer!

C'mon, you're just bluffing again. You're the worst actor every time you do this, y'know!

(Scratches mask) You serious?

Dammit. Don't they say masks hide your expression, make it easier to scare people?

Don't forget tone of voice. The moment you start bluffing, you sound super tense! It's like telling everyone what you're about to do. Anyone'd figure out the act, y'know?

Oh? I guess my acting still needs some work, then.

Oh, well. This next one's on me. You guys drink happy.

...If you say so. Give me another one.

Ease off, Chard. I don't want a repeat of you at the toilet bowl hurling and crying, yelling your daughter and ex-wife's names.

That last celebration dinner, if Noir Corne didn't carry you back to your place, you would've embarrassed yourself in front of the Doctor and Dr. Kal'tsit all night long.

(Groan)

You gotta lay off him now. Keep going and he'll pass out clutching the whole bottle, haha.

Chard's having a hard time. Went through a rough battle, returned living, and couldn't even tell the people that mattered about it. I know how that hits. You guys stop joking about him.

Thanks... s-see, I was genuinely scared... I wish I could be like you, Noir Corne, I've never seen you freeze up in any situation...

I've just been round the block a few more times. Everyone'll get used to it after a while.

Once I got back, I couldn't help picturing that scene. Those kind of conditions, that sort of place... if you left me to do anything alone right there, I wouldn't have made one step forward. Wouldn't have dared fall one step back.

Dr. Kal'tsit told me to think of my daughter. She said, if we won, I'd have a chance to see her again.

*Sigh*... I already know the thing, doctor. No matter if I die there or not, whether I get to see her again isn't my place to say.

I feel you.

The reason I... the reason I could keep walking was because she said we could win. I chose... *hic* to listen to that.

Then when we got back, I saw her and the Doctor again, and I was ashamed like nothing else. In that one moment, I was actually doubting we could win!

I'm not saying this to be nice, Chard—that mindset? I've thought like that too.

I've been through a lot of conflicts before. Used to just fight one battle to make it to the next, and when all was said and done, who won and who lost had nothing to do with a small fry like me.

Feeling like you can't win is normal. When you can't beat them, run, because your life's what's important. If you can keep just making it through the days, your job's done.

It's totally normal. Plenty of mercenaries think that way.

I used to run a security company outside, and people got the services they paid for, no other questions asked.

Then coming to Rhodes Island, same as the boss here, my mentality began to change.

I've been on plenty of missions with the Doctor. I slowly got to thinking, if we can win, and keep on winning at it, that's actually pretty slick!

Like that, I passed each day, hauling my weight on the battlefield, and now I'm even pumped for training. I'm practically keeping up with the young kids.

I wanna win too. I've always believed in what all the doctors are doing.

I wanna see my daughter, even if rationally, the odds are almost nothing. I'm still not gonna give up on them.

Hey, hey, that's the spirit! Good on you!

Rhodes Island always needs guys like us, after all. Is it our fault, really, we're not as strong, or we can hesitate, or we can get scared?

The Doctor told me to 'defend your own position,' and I did it. I've earned the pay, and I've earned the Doctor's trust.

And you were with Dr. Kal'tsit all the way to the end. You gonna tell me she chewed you out for it after coming back?

No. She... she actually commended me.

You see? Just like I said, right?

Yeah. I think you've actually helped me get past it a little.

But I still don't have the kind of good mentality you do. At the most, I won't hide behind a pillar next time I see the Doctor. Might even say hello by myself. See, you know, there's a whole lot of long-time ops who make the Doc sound mighty impressive.

We were on the same mission last time, sure... urp. But in the end, we didn't get to talk much.

Thinking about it, the Doctor sure as hell wouldn't remember me now... ugghhh...

Alright, Chard, I can safely say you're drunk again.

Lemme ease you up, buddy.

Better?

Phew... yeah, better...

I just wanna say, it doesn't mean someone's difficult when they cover up their face. You know that looking at me, don't you?

You can see for yourself the way the Doctor is, now we're all off the battlefield.

Once you're familiar, you'll realize the Doctor's not much different from us. There's two eyes and a mouth in there, a slacker, someone who makes mistakes, who worries about the schedules of every single department on this landship every day.

Yeah, now that you mention it, the Doc might be coming along on my next field mission soon!

That's a hell of a good chance. Right this moment, I'm even more curious about the Doctor than I am about what's under your mask, Noir!

Haha... that's good, yeah.

Are you okay, Chard? Should we keep going?

*cough*... Yeah, let's keep going. I'm much better now.

What's your hand?

Straight flush, yuccas!

Looks like you've lost again, Noir!

If we keep drinking at this rate, we're gonna run the liquor cabinet dry. We need some different stakes.

Then... if Noir loses again, he's gotta take his mask off!

Hey, hey, that's not gonna fly. It's not like I'm not willing, it's just you guys might be disappointed.

Yeah, the more you deflect, the more curious I get! I've been so curious, I've even dreamt it in my nightmares...

What did you dream?

Noir finally took off his mask, and underneath was another mask. And it was just one after another, kept going forever.

That's a nightmare for sure. I've got goosebumps now.

Oh yeah, that's a pretty solid dream. I like it.

If I could put on a bunch of masks in one go, I wouldn't have to worry about which one to wear every morning.

Come on, shatter the mystery, bro... I don't wanna dream about you every night!

Naughty, haunting Dylan's dreams. Looks like sometimes secrets are charming too.

I'm not kidding you guys, I don't have much of a secret. If you actually wanna look, I can—

Uh, nah!

Noir, you just stay as you are, bro, I think that's best. I'm worried you'd throw me for a loop if you actually had the mask off.

So, same as always, then?

Man, you guys. You wanna hear me tell stories again?

C'mon, bring it on! Your stories are the best part of playing cards.

Hm, lemme think. Last time we got to...

It was a rainy evening, and a mom and her kid were hiding in a... ruined temple? Then an Oni ran into them.

Wow, Chard, that's a killer memory you've got! Yeah, it was all like a scary movie. Then what happened?

—The Oni was there to kill.

Kill? And I thought the Oni'd be a good guy.

Right then, he was just an Oni someone told to go killing, so he went killing.

Sounds like he's got it pretty tough...

The Oni knocked the mom out, but when he had the daughter nabbed, it hit him she was just seven or eight, scared so bad she couldn't even scream.

The Oni thought to himself, 'it's for the mission, that's how it is,' getting ready to slaughter her.

That's when he noticed his strike being blocked by a blade.

That's cool!

Yeah, it was real cool, even I thought so. Uh, I mean, the Oni in the story thought so.

The light off that blade was real bright that night. The Oni couldn't help but fall back a little.

I get it, this was the hero coming to save the mom and kid, right?

Ha, the Oni was thinking that too.

He reckoned, if he couldn't win the fight, then forget it. Not like he was interested in killing anyone anyway. Act like he got hurt, treat the mission as a failure, and it's not like anyone would give him a hard time for it.

Only then did the Oni realize... the one who blocked his attack was another Oni.

Huh? Why'd that Oni come save the family, then?

At the time, he couldn't figure it out either. The weirdest thing was, seemed the other Oni was a whole other clan's lackey. Her head and his head were both out for the same thing, that girl's life.

Seriously? She held you off just so she could get her own kill?

The Oni guessed the same thing. He threw some hands with the other Oni, which led him to realize she actually wanted to save the kid.

So he asked her, what is it you wanna do?!

And she told him, she didn't wanna do anything. She just didn't wanna hurt another innocent person.

That stunned the Oni. He never once figured that was an option they could take.

Hey, sounds like he was a nice, soft guy... uh, soft Oni.

Yeah. He decided then and there, he'd let the girl go.

Because he was moved by the other Oni?

Ha... and maybe because he wasn't a match for her.

Giving up the mission yourself, that amounts to desertion. The powers on both their sides wouldn't let a traitor off easy, would they?

Yeah, so he came to the conclusion, he could only desert with the other Oni.

Man, fleeing together to the ends of the world! This turned from a horror story into a romance story.

It wasn't that romantic, was it? Trying to run away's not an easy thing... they got hurt together, they fell ill together. Had more than a couple close scrapes with death.

Not to mention, the other Oni couldn't stand being in sunlight. And nowhere's quick to trust you when you're always wearing a mask.

The Oni was obsessed, because masks were obviously pretty sweet, so he spent some crazy effort getting a whole pile of them.

A pile of masks?

Yeah, that was hard-earned as hell. Every mask was passed down by a different clan for a millennium, and had secret powers unbeknownst to anyone...

This is getting wilder by the second.

What kind of secret powers is a mask gonna have?

For example, you wear it and you're unaging and immortal. You get a huge strength boost or something.

Yeah, take that day, for instance. The Oni got his hands on the most fearsome mask of them all, and it came at a huge price. Almost cost him his life.

The other Oni was worried as hell for him. With all the guys chasing him, he did what he could in the moment, and put the mask straight on!

And in that instant, sand and stone came flying up, and every last enemy went pale—

And the Oni yelled in this huge voice, 'I've broken the limits!'

And then in a huge blast of spiritual energy, he sent every last bad guy packing.

Huh? What? That's way too sloppy for an ending! C'mon, Noir, every time you finish up, your stories just get more and more bizarre...

Well, hey, looks like I won, huh?

Huuuh?! I got way too absorbed in the story...

Same here...

Same all around, huh.

I see how it is! This is your special technique, isn't it, Noir?

Hey, hey, it's more effective than trying to bluff people out.

Augh, I still wanna hear more stories about the two Oni...

The one from before with the Oni challenging ten generals in a row on the night of a snowstorm, that was amazing!

Yeah, we'll leave it for next time. Looks to me like Chard's eyes are almost gluing shut.

When you're out from your field mission, then we can go for drinks again.

Hey, that's the Doctor, isn't it?

What? I was just staring at the cards—I didn't even notice!

Must've heard everything we were just talking about...

I... *cough* *cough* *cough*... I feel dizzy as hell...

Too late to act drunk, Chard.

Doctor, I never imagined you'd drop in at the bar.

Whaddaya nudging me for, you guys...

*cough*... Doctor, been ages since... uh, good evening!

*huff*...

Doctor, you... you actually remember all our names?!

Your memory's still as good as ever, Doctor.

Getting into your mountain of paperwork, and remembering all our personnel's names on top of that, it's not easy. Doctor, watch you don't get worn out.

Doctor, we're about to pack up right now. We'll give you some peace and quiet.

Uh-huh. Doctor, see you on the field mission!

We're out, Chard, what are you stuck to the ground for?

Huh? Yeah... *cough*, see you, Doctor.

Doctor, you don't mind if I sit down here, right?

Just now, we were meeting up after work, drinking and shooting the breeze. Must've been a comedy show for you.

They still don't really know what to make of you. But I know it well. You're fun, interesting, and a real good person.

It's your command, y'know, that lets guys like me find their proper position in a scene all tossed about head to tail.

And my position—is right here.

I'll go for anything. It's all tasty.

How about a drink with me, Doctor? A glass every now and then's no big deal.