Episode 15: "Cold-Hearted Cruelty"

Minami Oi
"You're right. My apologies. Let's get started with introductions. Here's my card."

Tsuruko Semba
"Ooo! How formal! You even have business cards!"

Minami went around and politely offered her business card to everyone.
The card read: "Minami Oi, G&O Co., Vice President."

Tsuruko Semba
"Hmm. This font feels really familiar..."

Tsuruko got lost deep in thought as she kept staring on at the card.

Tsuruko Semba
"...Oh! Could it be?!
Minami, were you a former member of the Shinagawa Tribe?"

Then after quickly connecting the dots, she suddenly spoke up.

Eiji Todoroki
"Now that you mention it, I did feel like I had heard your name somewhere before."

Minami Oi
"Yes, that's correct. However, I've since left the Tribe."

Yo Kuronaka
"If that's the case, there's something I'd like to ask you.
Why are the members of the Shinagawa Tribe working for that piece of crap Kazuma?"

Q
"I noticed that too.
Why would they be listening to someone who shouldn't have any connections to the Shinagawa Tribe?"

Minami Oi
"A solid observation. Please, allow me to explain."

Minami inhaled deeply, looked at everyone, and then began speaking.

Minami Oi
"A few years back, the Shinagawa Tribe was operating smoothly with it's then leader, and myself as his secretary at the Tribe's core.
However, we wanted to expand beyond the production of just XB Gear, so we decided to leave the Tribe to pursue that venture.
To that end, we built up and trained a successor. After that, we took our leave. But that's when all of this began..."

Yo Kuronaka
"You mean the governing rules?"

Minami Oi
"Yes. The Shinagawa Tribe with its new leader at the heart and center were forced to begin gathering goods to appease that sweet maniac of a CEO. That's when Kazuma stepped in with his master plan.
As the members were busy working hard to gather goods, he'd call out to each of them and spoke to them in private.
He'd get inside their head and tell them that their leader was just simply using them as a stepping stone to become Director. And once they served their purpose, he would get them laid off without a second thought."

Tsuruko Semba
"How utterly despicable! Repulsive even! Once the seed of distrust was planted into their hearts, it would be impossible to act as a team!"

Minami Oi
"Exactly. The members whose thoughts were plagued by doubt ended up siding with Kazuma for their own sakes.
The Tribe leader stood firm against the rumors till the very end. They ended up meeting a rather gruesome layoff which broke everyone's spirits."

It was clear she was feeling regret.
Minami's voice trembled as she spoke, her fists clenched tight as can be with a directionless rage.

Tsuki Iroha
"How awful... They were all from the same Tribe and yet they doubted each other."

Tsuruko Semba
"They're being dominated by fear and it's clouding their judgment on what's right and what's wrong.
It's practically mind control with how deep it's embedded itself into them."

Minami Oi
"The Shinagawa Tribe was our old home, so we want to do what we can to save it.
As we were struggling to come up with a plan, Mr. Aoyama reached out to us asking for our help.
We decided this wasn't an opportunity we could afford to walk away from."

Minami looked at Yo with clear eyes.
It was evident that despite all the hardship she's endured, she's strong.
From her attitude, he sensed a strong urge to move forward and not wallow endlessly in sadness.

Hyakuichitaro Senju
"Ya sayin' you wanna fight with us? Now we're talkin', I can get behind that for sure!"

Hyakuichitaro cracked his knuckles. The faces around him lit up a little bit as well.

Minami Oi
"Yes! We'd like to help in whatever way we can. So, please, join with us!
We're going to need each and every single one of you in our plan of attack!"

Yo Kuronaka
"We're aiming to payback what Kazuma did tenfold, so if our goals align then we've got your back."

Minami Oi
"Thank you! Well then—"

Q
"Hold on a second. It's too early to jump to any decisions.
We should base ours off of whether or not their plans work for us."

Q's low booming voice cut through all the excitement.

Minami Oi
"...I see your point. One of the basics of business is understanding all of the details, after all.
My boss would be more than happy to explain our plan. After hearing it, then you can make your decision."

Yo Kuronaka
"Sounds good to me. Where's your boss?"

Minami Oi
"He's in the office that serves as our headquarters. I apologize for the inconvenience, but would you be willing to follow me there?"

Eiji Todoroki
"My, my, I wasn't expecting to be getting such a workout today. But I suppose moderate exercise is necessary to maintain my refined physique."

Tsuki Iroha
"Okay! Let's get a move on then, everyone!"

Just as Tsuki took a step...

Minami Oi
"Ah, wait just one moment."

Minami spoke up and then began adjusting her glasses with her finger.

Tsuki Iroha
"What's up? Are your glasses broken?"

Minami Oi
"No, nothing like that. It's just that we relocated our office and I'm not too sure how to get there from here, so I wanted to double check."

Hyakuichitaro Senju
"Huh? Why in the world would you be messin' around with your glasses then? Just look it up on yer smartphone!"

Minami Oi
"These are actually smart glasses which have a built-in display interface."

Hyakuichitaro Senju
"Wait. Wait, wait wait. What?! That's awesome! Where'd you get 'em?!"

Hyakuichitaro's childlike amazement matched his age.

At a glance, Minami's glasses looked perfectly normal.
Yo was just as surprised as Hyakuichitaro to find out that they were actually high tech, but he disliked being thought of as childish.
For that reason, he suppressed his amazement and did his best to maintain a calm, cool, and collected demeanor.

Minami Oi
"Why thank you. These are something our company is currently developing.
I hope you'll continue to look forward to their release."

Hyakuichitaro Senju
"Oh, I DEFINITELY gotta save up for one of those!
Do they have any other cool features? Like, can they shoot lasers?!"

Minami Oi
"Nothing like that... In their current iteration, they can do things like record what you see."

Tsuki Iroha
"Aww, but it would've been super duper awesome if they could shoot out laser beams!"

Minami Oi
"...Being able to record your surroundings isn't that appealing?"

Eiji Todoroki
"Pay no mind to these fools. I understand the value of it.
Hm. Perhaps your company would be worth investing in."

Minami Oi
"Well, our company is currently taking investments, so I thank you for your consideration.
I've gone ahead and sent the location information to your smartphones. It should display the route to our office."

Everyone's smartphones let out a notification sound, and they took them out in unison.
They noticed a GPS route had appeared on their screens.

Yo Kuronaka
"You can even do things like that with your smart glasses? That's really an amazing piece of tech. Well, I guess it's time to head out."

And so, they set off for the office. Following the route the GPS listed as they exchanged introductions with one another.