Chapter 15: The Perfect Balance

Chapter 15: The Perfect Balance

The man's severed head lies on the ground, squashed like a paper bag.

Having lost consciousness, his body slowly teeters, spurting bright red blood from the neck. It finally collapses in a cloud of dust.

The moment he falls, Katie turns towards us as if she'd timed it precisely all along.

She looks at us dead on, lips curling into a wry smile.

Her frilly apron, once pure white, is now splattered with a grotesque red pattern.

My heart starts pounding.

Wait just a damn minute. What the hell was that?

My mind stammers in protest. But I can't unsee what I saw.

A person is now dead.

It seems like some crazy scene from a horror movie, but a man was actually just murdered before our eyes.

I feel a chill crawl up my spine. This can't be happening.

What am I supposed to do now?

What is there to do?

Should I try to escape?

Should I take little Big with me?

If that's the plan, I'd better act fast.

But…my feet! They won't move! I'm stuck!

"Just calm down…" Big speaks slowly.

Gently, she puts a tiny hand on my shoulder.

I can feel her little palm resting there, its tender touch spreading warmly across my back.

"I'm here for you. I'll always be by your side, OK? I'm your Big, and I'm right here. Solid as a rock, brave as a lion. You don't have to be scared. Just relax. Don't lose your cool. Little Big's right here."

Her soothing voice and reassuring touch make everything melt away.

All my anxiety, tension, and fear…gone.

Sometimes I can be a coward. I can be weak. My resolve fails me. But my little Big always backs me up.

When it comes down to the wire and my courage fails, she's always there with kindness and support.

She always stands by me when I need it most.

"Meow-ha-ha-ha!"

Katie bursts out laughing, brilliant white teeth exposed.

There she is, smiling like an innocent child while her right hand hangs down next to her, soaked in a dead man's blood.

"Master and Mi'Lady, you are quite burr-ave after all! I thought mew might run away or start crying for help."

I ignore her comment. "Miss Katie," I ask her, "if we lose the game…I mean, if we find the wrong thing…you're basically going to kill us, right?"

"Well…" she hesitates, "that is not purr-cisely true."

Placing an index finger on her forehead, she goes on pensively.

"When mew lose your life in AKIBA, your body is lost…so mew do die in the real world," she explains. "But when mew die in the real world, your soul stays here in AKIBA forever and ever. Neverrr to perish!"

She grins, and then peering into my eyes, goes on.

"If mew cannot find what you are really looking for in AKIBA, mew will not find any meaning in life in the real world either. Isn't that right?"

Although she is smiling, her cold, stern words pierce my heart like daggers of ice.

I almost break down right there and then, but I manage to hold myself together.

"So what if we do find what we are looking for?" I ask.

"Then surely I will be purr-eased to show mew the way out of AKIBA!"

So that's it, then. We can go home when we find the right answer.

But our lives combined with chiffon cake…

"It may not be the purr-fect balance?"

Katie chimes in as if she's reading my mind.

"The impurr-tance of the chiffon cake depends on how mew look at it," she continues. "Which one carries more weight is up to mew, Master."

Like a child plotting mischief, Katie covers her mouth and giggles.

Weight? What does she mean by that?

"Well, well, mew still have one hour left! Better get mew-ving and find your treasure! Don't worry, when the time comes I will appear whether or not mew call!"

Katie turns around, crosses her hands at her back, and disappears into the alley full of gadgets and gizmos.

As soon as she is out of sight, Big lets out a sigh.

"What in the world have we gotten ourselves into?" she asks aloud. "You know…"

Her voice grows faint and sorrowful, like a murmur.

"…it's really a cruel game she's playing, trying to place a value on a person's memories. Don't you think?"