Act 8
Masayoshi's Apartment
The door opened softly, and Masayoshi's eyes lit up as he recognized the familiar figure, it was his father, Mr. Saba, an Asian man with graying hair and an upright posture, carrying the weight of over 60 years of experience. Without a word, without a gesture of affection, the man entered the apartment, he settled into the only armchair, his eyes fixing on his son as if searching for some genuine reaction.
"Dad... Wow, you... you have no idea how happy I am to see you here."
Silence followed until Mr. Saba finally spoke, his voice a clean, cold cut through the air.
"Tell me... what did you do?"
"What? What do you mean?" Masayoshi retorted, genuinely confused.
"I may seem resilient now", the father continued, each word measured and laden with contained tension,
"But you cannot imagine the despair that is consuming me."
Masayoshi says:
"I... I don't understand."
"Any father would be devastated to hear the voice of his only son being dissected, note by note, by government experts."
The words hit Masayoshi like a physical blow, he took a step back, the reality of his mistake from the previous day becoming brutally clear, the risk he had taken, the exposure...
"But Dad... did they come after you?"
Saba:
"Obviously not, they will never find you in the official databases."
Masayoshi:
"How? They have everything cataloged."
Saba:
"Exactly, they only have what exists in the databases. I am not insane enough to register you in those systems, your information is minimal, fragmentary... a ghost."
A sigh of relief escaped Masayoshi's lips, followed immediately by a wave of perplexity.
"How is that possible? I thought you were just a government historian..."
Saba:
"I have been in this position for over forty years; I have my contacts, my function is to document the 'GLORIOUS' history of humanity. Our offices are in the same building as the forensics department precisely to protect history, I have been the head documentarian for a long time, Masayoshi, and I am not so foolish as to explicitly link myself to you and compromise your safety."
Masayoshi stood up and began pacing the room, a violent internal debate raging in his mind.
(Should I tell him? Can I lie to him? He deserves the truth... after everything he's done to protect me...)
"I tried for so long to keep you out of trouble", Mr. Saba broke the silence, his voice softer, almost broken.
"But it seems yesterday you committed a huge stupidity, so tell me: what the hell did you do that made the chief scientist of this nation himself demand that the best experts on the planet search for your data?"
Masayoshi stopped and stared into his father's deep eyes, seeing in them not just judgment, but fear.
"I... accidentally... witnessed a murder!"
Mr. Saba narrowed his eyes, a sigh escaping his lips.
"If you're going to lie to me, at least know how to do it with conviction, the human government wouldn't mobilize for a mere murder, for your voice to be in the priority search archives, you must have committed, at the very least, a heinous crime."
Cold sweat trickled down Masayoshi's neck again, cornered, with no way out, trapped by his father's perceptiveness, the truth burst from his lips.
"I am... a meta-human."
Saba:
"That's impossible, none of our ancestors have a history of powers; our lineage is ordinary."
Determined, Masayoshi concentrated. A cosmic energy emanated from his body, converging in his hands, a blade of pure, red Omega energy formed before his fist, distorting the air around it.
His father's reaction was instantaneous: his eyes widened, his composure shattered in the blink of an eye, seeing the shock and fear on his father's face, Masayoshi dissipated the energy immediately.
"These powers... aren't mine, Dad, a divine entity from another universe... gave me this strength. And I made a choice, I chose to use it to help this world rediscover its justice, to bring faith back and eradicate the inequality we see on the streets."
Mr. Saba's face transformed, the coldness gave way to an expression of dread.
"Masayoshi... you are all I have left, my most precious treasure, I cannot allow myself... to lose you too, I couldn't bear the pain of burying my own son."
"Dad, I..." Masayoshi tried, his own voice choked.
Saba:
"This world is rotten, you have no idea what they will do to you if they capture you. I've seen things... I've cataloged horrors this government has committed, atrocities I never had the courage to document officially, do you think I don't know how despicable they are? The aliens suffer, yes, but I don't want to see you join them as just another lifeless body forgotten on the edges of this world."
Masayoshi bowed his head, even with his eyes closed, a red light radiated from his eyelids. In his mind echoed the promises he had made, the image of good people, the unexpected kindness of the elderly couple who had sheltered him without question. He took a deep breath, with a conviction in his soul, when he opened his eyes, there was a calmness in them.
"Dad... I've never disappointed you, but I'm afraid I'll have to now, the world is a horrible place, I know, I know the dangers. But if I don't try, those who were good to me will never be able to walk in the sunlight without fear of being beaten or spat upon, I need to do this, not out of pride, but to defend those who cannot defend themselves, I destroyed solid metal robots, survived energy blasts that would pulverize rocks. If these powers came to me, Dad, I believe it's for a greater purpose. It's a sign."
Mr. Saba wiped his tears with the back of his hand, his son's words sounding like an offense to his years of arduous work, unable to see a better world amidst so much cruelty.
"You're throwing away everything your mother and I did for you to chase after something impossible! Everything I did, everything I endured was to keep you safe, Masayoshi. My service was always too risky to afford me the luxury of living as a happy, united family, but at least it gave you the protection to live another day in this filthy world, and now you want to do the same for THIS world?"
Masayoshi:
"It's not fair for people to live in hiding, for families to be separated, for children to grow up without hope. The world needs help, and I have the opportunity to make a difference in these people's lives, to be the hope they need!"
Mr. Saba looked at him with disbelief, lost for words for a moment after what he had just heard. He took a deep breath, as if needing to recompose himself, and then spoke with a voice laden with frustration.
"Hope? You call this hope? This is recklessness! You have no idea what you're risking, nor the price you might pay!"
Masayoshi:
"Price? The price is already being paid every day by innocents who suffer silently at the hands of this hypocritical government! Hiding as if they were criminals, with no faith that tomorrow can be better, and you... you prefer to close your eyes, pretend nothing is happening, as if silence were enough."
Saba stood up, slamming his hand on the table with force. The sound echoed through the room, dry and sharp.
"You are too naive! Do you think you can change a broken world alone? That you can defeat those bloodthirsty people? You are blinded by the obsession of being the hero here, and that obsession will end up destroying you."
Masayoshi:
"If fighting for justice is an obsession, then so be it! I'd rather die trying than live with the guilt of not being able to defend those in need right in front of me, and now I have a way to help, a way to bring back people's faith. I can't allow myself to give up out of fear, running and hiding like everyone else."
With a heavy, reluctant sigh, Mr. Saba gave up, unable to fight against his son's firm decision ,he no longer had before him the child who obeyed without question, who depended on his orders to survive. Now he was a grown man, shaped by his own choices, his own risks.
It pained him deeply not to be able to protect him anymore, not to be able to ward off with his own hands the dangers he knew would come. The paternal instinct screamed for him to grab him and lock him away safely, but it was too late: his will had broken the chains of childhood.
"I'm sorry, Dad... You suffered to keep us safe, just like these people, and I am willing to sacrifice myself to honor that sacrifice. This is my purpose: to fight so that no one else has to."
Saba:
"You are as stubborn as your mother, she... always believed that certain battles were worth a lifetime. I guess I can no longer deny that you inherited that from her."
As much as fear consumed him, he couldn't avoid the pride that filled his chest upon seeing the unbreakable determination in his son's eyes, the look of someone who had found his own path. The memory of the woman he could not reunite with was still an open wound, but seeing that same flame burning in his son broke him inside.
Masayoshi raised an eyebrow, almost surprised by the change in his father's tone.
"Are you saying you'll be by my side? Even after everything I said?"
Saba:
"I didn't say I agree, I said I will be by your side. It's different, you're going to risk yourself regardless... so you need someone to watch your back.
Masayoshi:
"And then..."
Saba:
"The media is the most powerful weapon in modern times, you will need to appear before the world, when the time comes, most humans may not even care, but a significant portion hates those who are different and blindly defends the supreme government. And... if we're going to do this, it will be my way, at least in this, you are not going to this war dressed in improvisation, you will need to be strong to resist. You will learn to be a symbol."
Mr. Saba took a card from his wallet, with a handwritten address, and placed it in Masayoshi's hands.
"Back when there was still an active resistance in this system, there were artisans who helped by making armor and clothes to hide certain... 'Ets'. This address belongs to the son of the last of those tailors, if you are to become a symbol, you will need a uniform, something eye-catching, something... heroic."
Masayoshi smiled, for the first time amid the tension, as his father walked to the door and replied in a slightly playful tone.
"So... I guess we finally agreed on something."
Saba:
"Try not to destroy half the city next time, you're going to need it whole and... Take care, son, please, I need you in one piece."
The door closed softly behind him, Mayoshi let himself fall onto his bed, an intense warmth and an unshakable determination burning in his chest. A wide smile spread across his face, a feeling of purpose finally clear, until a sharp sound from his cell phone cut the moment short, he picked up the device and read the message flashing on the screen:
[FINAL WARNING: UNEXCUSED ABSENCES DETECTED. NEXT ABSENCE WILL RESULT IN TERMINATION.]