Chapter Forty-Two: Kill the Puppet Master:

Watari made it to Seibo Hospital in Shinjuku. This was the last one on the list. He looked at his phone. Visiting hours would be over in ten minutes. That would give him enough time. Watari vanished from outside.

Nobody saw him in the hospital. Watari looked at the chart at the nurse’s station.

“Ah, Room 10,” he said to himself. Watari quietly walked down the hall. Let’s end this, Orphan. His time was running out.

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He lay in his bed, smirking. Just as he pictured it. His work was done. He said his piece. He closed his eyes and counted down the steps.

Left. Right. Left. Right. Left. Right. Left. Right.

Pause.

He opened his eyes.

“Oh,” he said. “You found me. Now what?” Watari stood over his bed.

“Now what indeed,” he said. “You know you’ve committed a grave offense, right?”

“I regret nothing,” he said. “I would do it all again.”

“But why?”

“Why what?”

“Why do all of this? What is the point of this?”

He smirked to himself. “Does there have to be a reason?”

“Yes.”

Orphan laughed. “Always with the questions. I never got that luxury.” His smirk softened. “It doesn’t matter now. Take, my time’s about up.”

“Well now,” Watari said. “You seem sure of yourself.”

“What’s the point of being angry? Nothing will change. I have achieved my goal. You can’t stop it. Others will copy me. The cycle won’t end. You’re too late.”

Watari smiled. “We can try.”

“Heh,” Orphan said. He drew in his last breath. The monitor flatlined. Watari stood watching as the nurses rushed into the room. Meanwhile, Orphan’s soul sat up and walked over to the blonde doctor.

“Ready to do?” Watari asked.

“You don’t even know what my real name is,” Orphan said.

“Fine,” the shinigami said. “What is your name?” The puppet master spoke his name.

“Understood,” Watari said. “Ready to go?”

“Yes,” Orphan said. Both men vanished into thin air.

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The puppets were rounded up in three weeks. Their story was the same.

“I got an email asking if I wanted to make little money,” they said. He gave them a set of instructions to follow. The farms sprung up as result.

Now, it’s all gone. The farms, the orders, the puppets, and Orphan. All of it gone and the case is closed.

But Watari knows better.

“Are you going to keep an eye out for copycats?” Konoe asked.

“Of course,” Watari said. “I promised him that I would.”

“Him?” the boss asked. The blonde scientist looked out the window. How long before the next core farm pops up? They would be ready.