Project: Ändern

'She's probably getting rid of you!' teased Reiner over the phone. She just can't stop rambling, can't she?

'It's not exactly common for bosses to excuse an employee with no due reason. You must be doing something wrong, or else you'd be scrambling away solving murders or whatever I suppose you do best.'

Shoko sighed, contemplating whether she should end the call right then and there.

'Just because Anya happens to be your best friend and boss doesn't mean you can be so lax. I'm sure you'll come to know one day,' Reiner continued.

Shoko wasn't in the mood for Reiner's ongoing chatter and hung up after a rushed goodbye. Reiner was always way too nosy, shouldn't the older sibling be the maturer type? With a sigh, Shoko got up and took a deep breath as she made her way to the living room, soaking in scenery of bland colors and minimalistic furniture, just the way she'd liked it. Shoko hadn't felt the need to be fancy with her choice of furniture, not with a job as exciting as hers, where you spend more of your day wound up in an office or better yet, out scoping crime scenes.

But after her boss, Anya, had prescribed her a few days off, she found herself wandering around her house aimlessly, wondering what she'd do next before returning to work. Even in this bored state, she enjoyed the quiet of her own company: No phone, no annoying older sister nagging, no annoying colleagues, and those postponed piles of documents that had kept piling over one another at her usually clean desk could be forgotten about for a small while.

Though the same question had taunted her on why had Anya decided on this for her. Why take her away from her beloved job for no reason? Shoko hadn't wanted to believe she was doing anything wrong, mainly because she was confident and capable at whatever task she was subjected to, except for maybe the fact she's deserted a few cases, but it shouldn't be that worrisome. After all, there wasn't a reason to feel too gloomy on a fine Monday like this.

It was just an ordinary day full of reading, solving drastically smaller cases (by habit, she just couldn't sit still without some kind of research in her day), and perhaps a walk downtown for a hot cup of coffee. 'Anya had prescribed me a short holiday and I'm going to make the utmost use of it,' is what she reminded herself with.

As she neared her mailbox, the bitter wind felt soft against her face, its breeze ruffling her hair. The gray skies had met her gaze for what felt like too long... winter felt like it had been dragging on forever. It was tiresome. I'm sure I can leave the rest to the department.

She opened her mailbox to a letter, off-white, proper, and with a red stamp on the very front. She skeptically unraveled it to a neatly written page of paper. The paper wasn't printed; instead, it was written carefully, with black ink smudging over the sharp corners. That handwriting was all too familiar and alarming.

THE AULKAUS BUREAU

Aulkaus District 9

October 21, 2019

Shoko Sakano

9 Som St.

Aulkaus, 12405

Dear Shoko Sakano,

Your employment with the detective department will officially be terminated on 1999-10-21.

You've been terminated for the following: forfeiting assigned duties, leaving trainees unsupervised and engaging with unauthorised duties.

Your badge and gun are to be collected by the following day.

We wish you the best in finding new employment.

Sincerely,

Anya Claus

Shoko stared at the letter in her hands. She couldn't fathom that her best friend and boss could terminate her so carelessly. She scrunched it quickly and let out a heavy sigh. It turns out that secretly breaking certain rules wasn't so secret after all. Shoko knew a day like this would come, but never enveloped, stamped, and signed by her best friend.

She walked back into her enclosed, dark house and slumped over beside the wall, still clenching the letter. She unraveled it and read it again, and again. 'For crying out loud!' she yelled, startling the cat. She could feel her emotions getting the better of her as she sat there for twenty minutes straight, listening to the ongoing tune of a clock ticking back and forth; that sound would be enough to make anyone really crazy.

Shoko felt a fuzzy notion by her ankle. To her surprise, Crispin, her beloved black cat, had settled beside her, eyes closed and restful. Shoko stroked his forehead and stood up, the cat slightly flinching from the sudden movement.

As she stood up, she let out another sigh and walked toward a wooden drawer beside her bed. She grabbed hold of a golden badge and ruined gun, which she had allowed to get run over while on her unsupervised duties. She walked out the door, throwing on a black jacket over her shoulders and a white baseball cap.

The detective department looked dim, its black and gray filter giving it a depressing air. As the doors opened, the sound of soft wind was put to a stop, introducing low chatter and eyes following her as she walked along the marble tiles. They must've known she'd been terminated, because some whispered and giggled like children as she walked past. She thought just how childish her colleagues, or, ex-colleagues, had been.

As the sound of loud tapping footsteps came to a close, she enlisted a large intimidating door. Anya Claus, her boss's name, had been encrusted into the gold plating at the very front. From being childhood friends and playing hide-and-seek, to now having no reason to catch up except through work, which, in Shoko's case, had come to an end.

She had to brace herself before turning the golden handle. She didn't know what to expect; after all, Anya had changed drastically after all these years, enough to make you consider just what kind of drug-like power trip took hold of her.

The door clicked open, echoing dramatically before Anya's quick greeting. 'Shoko, glad to see you following my orders for once. Did you bring your badge? Your gun?' mocked the woman, raising her red half-rim glasses. Anya stood up from her chair, holding out a gloved hand. Sakano dodged discreetly, sitting down before catching Anya's gaze.

Nonetheless, her dear old friend looked the same as ever: dressed in her most formal frilly blouse and a long black skirt, with her dirty-ivory hair brushed down, straight bangs hanging just over her eyelids, and a fair, shut-in complexion.

The only difference was her eyes. Ever since Anya achieved such high status, a hint of animosity, menace, and interrogation began to glow within her deep maroon depths, much like that of a wolf.

'Anya... I don't even know where to begin. This all seems so quick and startling... The dream we had worked up to together and finally achieved has been put under turmoil by the one who encouraged me all the way. I thought we were going to hide our faults when we became detectives. That's what you said.'

Shoko was met with Anya's cold wolf stare again, except this time, she was sipping her coffee and watching Shoko like a play.

'Hm.' scoffed Anya.

'C'mon Anya, we practically grew up together. Why so suddenly have you come to such a conclusion? You can't fire me just yet. I've got cases to solve, why now of all times?'

Anya's attention darted off elsewhere, ignoring her cries, rolling her eyes and sighing. Her annoying and uncaring expression was slithering in. Irritation built upon Anya's face, which she had tried to conceal but failed desperately.

'What happened to building up our own detective force together? Yet here you are, demanding and power-driven for your own gain. You know that firing me won't make things easier for you here at the department. I solve more cases than anyone here, even if it means bypassing a few rules.'

'Just as incompetent as ever...' Anya sighed once more. 'You can't pick and choose cases you're interested in, Shoko. We're adults now; you can't act as you please.' Anya explained, her hand twirling her thick cerulean hair, something she'd frequently do whenever she was fed up with anything at all.

'But... I haven't even received any letters yet. The only one I'd gotten was the one you gave me this morning. You didn't prepare me for anything. All I know now is that it was a big mistake to push you to be head of the detective force.'

Shoko furrowed her brow. 'I should have never let you get the role... I should have known you're the type of person to let power get into that dumb head of yours!'

Anya rolled her eyes once more. 'Oh, are you done yet? I'm sorry Shoko, I really am.' She waited for a better explanation than that. There was a short pause in between awkward eye contact.

'But certainly not to the point where I'd allow you to cause havoc in the system,' Anya spoke, walking along the office hall, her hair flowing behind her. She picked up a few papers and pretended to look at them. Shoko could tell Anya wasn't reading anything at all.

She couldn't help but hopelessly ask a pathetic question. 'Can't I have another chance at being a detective again? You can't end our childhood dream like this, Anya,' she replied. 'I mean... this is all just too sudden,' she replied, herself. She couldn't bring herself to actually raise her voice any higher... some part of her was telling herself that she actually was in the wrong.

Anya gave an even more irritated look in response. 'You failed the task I specifically told you to pull through for, yet you left Lena in the dust. She took it upon herself to file a complaint against you just like all your other subordinates,' proclaimed Anya, once more holding out her hand, but this time for Shoko's badge and gun. Shoko sighed; she couldn't even argue. She knew she was in the wrong and that Anya had every right to fire her without any special treatment. She reached into her pocket and handed both the gun and badge to Anya, who held a slightly smug look on her face.

As Shoko left the office in shame, strolling back to her street where she'd felt most at home, she'd now felt incomplete and lost, as if in a foreign country. This was all she had, all she dreamt of — especially because of Anya... Sure, her house felt like a place of refuge, but it was only for sleeping; it wasn't anything homey like her work office was. She'd spent too much time at the department researching anyway, so what good was a home?

The water felt cold, splashing onto her ankles as it rained and puddled beneath her feet. She walked along the drizzling sidewalk; cars went by and children walked back home from school. The middays always felt nicest. However, the sound of bustling chatter had quietened, and Shoko's thoughts became cloudy.

Something in the near distance glimmered like an illusion, or an unknown memory.

With nothing to lose, she ran in wet heels to the strange object, the uneven surface almost causing her to trip. She stopped in her track and held her arm in a daze, staring at the wet object on the rainy pavement.

It was something sentimental that seemed to metaphorically roll back time, allowing old memories to fly into Shoko's head so vividly. Why was she seeing this now?

A feeling that began all love for detective work, mysteries and adventure. A memory that brought her and Anya their friendship.

It was Arcadamia.

Arcadamia, a forgotten gem of a video game, only to be played by entering a code into the secret web browser.

'What a faded memory. What's this doing here?' she whispered to herself.

By a large puddle situated a note of paper that unmistakably read "Arcadamia", and a list of numbers scribbled carelessly within its centre. The writing seemed unfinished in a way.

It was foreign while at the same time so familiar. Was it so wrong to pick up something that felt as if you were picking up childhood memories? Shoko thought otherwise, as she steadily picked it up and tucked the note under her arm, walking home in haste, knowing exactly what she was going to spend the rest of her day doing.

But did this seem too convenient? She couldn't help but wonder if someone dropped it there just for her to pick it up.

Shoko shrugged.

That didn't matter, as long as Shoko could get her mind off of being terminated.

Shoko shut her door and tried to flatten out the mysterious piece of paper in front of her. She booted up her old computer and searched "Arcadamia" into the web browser. It had been ages since her fingers had typed that word. What did it even mean anyway?

Shoko's eyes lit up at the sheer surprise that the website looked exactly how it used to be. Indigo painted the home page whilst the word "Arcadamia" hung over in the centre. At the bottom lingered an ominous black bar reading "insert game file".

'That's right, this game was so old it ran on game file addresses. You had to save the URL and enter it every time you wanted to load your last save point within the game. Forgetting it meant starting from square one,' Shoko thought.

Arcadamia wasn't a game that everyone could play, because it was exclusive to only those who were invited by a friend. Shoko was only invited because Anya sent her an online invitation three years after playing and unlocking a special feature.

Staring at the nostalgic screen brought back the faint memory of meeting up after school with Anya. For Shoko, it felt like an explosion of a hidden sense of melancholy.

But there was no time to be getting sentimental.

After skimming the scrunched piece of paper in front of her, she realised the code to the game file was incomplete. It was a few numbers shorter than it should be.

'Why would anyone be this careless when writing their URL?' she wondered, hopeless at the thought that there would be no physical way of entering the game.

After hours of assessing each crease and corner of the paper, she was left with her last hope.

'If this works then it's a genius way to keep your account safe... not from me, but from someone who wasn't a detective,' she said. With a decisive motion, she reached for her UV light beneath her dresser. With a racing heart she shone it onto the paper.

Shoko's eyes widened.

Within the stream of code emerged four other numbers, faint but recognisable. Shoko traced her finger beneath each number and then typed them into the code bar.

'Let's see then. Maybe this will get my mind off of today for the better,' she sighed, loading in.

Memories flew in without end. Just by gazing at the pixelated purple sky, she remembered all the fun memories she made with Anya when they played. This sky was always there to brighten up her days when school was a drag and her parents were at work.

'The graphics on this game were always unshaded and shabby, but that's why I liked it. The new games these days just feel so lifeless,' she thought to herself as she analysed her already-made avatar.

Her avatar seemed to be a tall, mysterious woman with long black hair. Her face was completely covered by an ominous porcelain mask, and her outfit consisted of a white and black kimono with a large cyan haori thrown over her shoulders. It was obvious this account belonged to someone who would go through many lengths to achieve certain items.

Items she hadn't ever owned were placed into her inventory immediately. Knowing she would have had to spend hours to get these items had she still played, she felt relief as she equipped her ultra-rare shadow katana.

'Woah... the owner of the code must have hacked some precious items. I've never used any of these... Oh, maybe I've used the transportation key, but that was an easy cheat to download back in elementary before they patched its distribution...'

'I guess I'll just check out the town area. I think I press this button to sprint.'

As Shoko explored the village, she recalled a few key aspects of the game by looking at the NPCs.

'Ah, that's right. All the characters wear masks to signify what rank they have in society. I'm pretty sure mine signifies a pretty high tier due to the exotic patterns on the side... if I recall, only 100 people could obtain it.'

With all this new gear, she decided to head out to the main village and begin her quests.

She played for what felt like hours.

But no memories crawled in. It was fun to revisit such an old game, but it wasn't any fun without Anya. Nothing could stop her from playing, but that didn't mean she was enjoying herself at all. It only felt like escaping the bigger problem at hand.