Sector - 9

The Abyss, a dark crater as the centre of six cracks, spreading towards different directions on the planet. Each crack stretching to thousands of kilometres, letting out the Abyss within.

No light escapes the dark Abyss, none know what's inside this dark pit of hell. But what everyone knows is that some strange supernatural powers lie dormant inside these pits of hell. These powers affect the population around the globe, urging them to commit crimes, fulfil their deepest desires. This energy was named 'Will of Abyss' more generally called 'Will'. It took decades to solve the mystery of how this energy travelled thousands of kilometres before finally seeping into anyone with a weak mind.

"Rain. Bearing the Abyss' Will for so far before letting it onto our world. Delivering treachery masked by the beauty of its shower. The culprit behind everything. The mount of Abyss' Will."

Reading the conclusion of the book, slowly placing it back in the bookshelf, Ken walked down the stairs to see an old man behind the counter, the person who sheltered him for almost three years, looking after his every need. It was never part of the deal, but the old Kenzo's answer was vague yet simple when this topic was brought up,

'I will spend my money anywhere I want to. I will tell you once again, kid, Money isn't everything.'

"Sigh—Let me guess, you completed that book as well. I still don't get it. Why are you so persistent about reading history books trying to find villages or grasslands. Just accept the fact that you were some mad scientist's test experiment and be done with it."

Kenzo sighed as he put down the champagne glass he was cleaning, looking straight at Ken with one last persuading look before turning back to continue cleaning. He knew Ken never left anything be.

"If you want to read any other book, tell me when I go out. We are keeping the bar closed today, I feel like it's time to clean that wretched basement storage. Get some gloves and put on a mask, it's going to be pretty dusty probably."

Kenzo put the champagne glass away and led Ken to the basement with a pair of gloves and a mask. Calling it a horrible sight would have been an understatement. Boxes were thrown around randomly with their contents sprawled out, along with other questionable things laying around on the floor, left undisturbed in the basement for years to collect dust.

"Now I know why you forbid me from coming down to the basement and I'm glad you did old man. What in the world are these things? Don't tell me you were part of some dark underground mafia in the past."

Mocking Kenzo with a playful smile, his eyes scanned around while putting on his mask. Trying to tidy up the boxes by piling them in a corner one after another before scanning its contents. There were all kinds of bizarre things, chunks of strange black rocks, empty glass bottles, broken sword hilts, metal shards and so on. After going through a few more garbage, he started to come around boxes with stacks of paper. But all of a sudden one box caught his attention. He stared at it for a minute before asking,

"This…You still had it?"

Looking around, Kenzo's gaze fell on a small blood stained shirt. It was the same shirt that Ken was wearing when Kenzo found him in his back alley. He had to throw away the bloodied rags. Seeing them back in his basement, Kenzo's pupils contracted. His face changed colours as he clenched his fists, while he slowly walked towards the box silently, with his brain recollecting facts,

'I threw them away along with the other garbage. And I am the only one with the key to the basement. Also, there are no traces of anyone entering the basement, not even a footprint on this dust collected floor.'

"I thought you threw them away. Why did you even keep these old clothes of mine?"

Ken put them back in the box after looking at them for a few seconds. But as he was about to close the box, something piqued his sight. A tiny black chip with gold plating on it, peeking out from the shirt's white collar. Not only Ken but Kenzo saw it too. Pulling it out of the collar, many new doubts grew in the minds of these two but none of their doubts were the same.

"Go and check what's in that memory chip. I'll be there in a minute."

Ken rushed out of the basement with a solemn face as he strode towards his room while Kenzo slowly walked out of the basement. Only one name wrung in his mind, the same name was the answer to all his questions except one. His eyes fell towards the nearest window for a moment before he sped towards Ken's room as he muttered,

'Lillian'

By the time he arrived at Ken's room, a holographic screen was playing a video. A man with red hair and a brown jacket, chasing behind the camera under the rain like a mad man. Scenery changing from a bloody village to a never ending grassland, only to be distorted after ten minutes of running, turning into a highly advanced city. A raining night sky pierced by skyscrapers all around, the chase continued for a few seconds before the screen turned black all over. Silence continued over the black screen for a few seconds until the video almost reached its end before letting out the audio,

"Once a giant family, but now all you have is your twin sister. We don't even know if she's still alive, but you are and also will be her only hope of survival. Ken, find me in Sector - 9. You need to sa---Tssh~"

'Sector - 9'

Kenzo's eyes turned back to its normal state as his final doubt was cleared. His mind free from any queries, the answer to his question reverberated in his mind.

'It's time to start his mission. Or should I say, their mission?'