Paradoxes of the Sunken District (沈んだ地区の逆説)

Tacenda I: The Omniscient Illusionist

Today's- 2087's modern Japan is filled with high-rise buildings, skyscrapers, and train tracks that cross the sky. Smart houses were a norm, with city lights that make the night seem like day but colourful. But the cities known today isn't the past cities improved, but cities built on top of the old ones, hence the Sunken District was born. The place was abandoned because it was left unsupervised by the government, and it became a separate world just for criminals.

Hisare had to be granted special authorization to pass the gates and head down to the Sunken District, just the train travelling down to the underground from the surface alone is enough to tell how unkept the underworld was. Hisare has never been to the Sunken District and he cautiously left the train with a few other men who gave him distrustful glares.

"Seraphim, are you there?" Hisare lifted the left side of his coat, revealing a small device wired with a microphone and camera.

"Don't worry, I'm here with you." Seraphim replied calmly, "I heard the Omniscient Illusionist regularly performs at a nightclub, Blue Ship Nightclub. It's quite a distance from the entrance,"

"And I have to walk there?" Hisare realized, since he couldn't bring his own vehicle to the underworld. "Does the underworld not have public transportation?"

"They do, but it's dangerous, especially for what the Sunken District has become."

"Right..." Hisare sighed heavily.

With Seraphim's guide, the detective travelled through the Sunken District by foot. The dimness of the underworld was different from the normal night, it came to mind that anyone born and raised in the world has never seen the sun. But it didn't seem to bother the dexterity of the dwellers of the Sunken District, many of them were tall and well built, giving sharp gazes at the passing detective. Despite being armed with a gun and a certified badge, Hisare doubt they would be any help against the gangsters.

But other than the silent hoodlums, the world was far behind compared to the surface. Children could be seen walking around without a parent, mostly dressed in ragged oversized clothing that made their thin bodies appear smaller. They ran from the sight of a stranger, staggering as they flee and add to their many scrapes as they hide in the alleys, quiet and cleaning the road for the detective.

"Seraphim... has the Sunken District always been this way?" Hisare asked, "I know that the government left this world unattended, but it wasn't this bad back then..."

"There's more to this underworld than it seems," Seraphim replied to him through his earpiece, "This is my first time seeing the Sunken District's condition after the documentary that was made 10 years ago, I didn't expect it to be this bad, it looked like a post-apocalyptic world."

"But what made this place go downhill?" Hisare minded his every step, scanning his dimly lit surroundings as he goes.

"There're mafia groups residing here everywhere, but there're four main mafia groups; well known as the Four Shrines."

"I think I've heard of them, there're the four groups that dominate the north, south, east, and west, right?"

"Yes, and I heard a war took place between the groups, and I believe that event left the underworld as it is now." Seraphim explained, "And it's been so long, 50 years since the gates were sealed off, but this place has been abandoned for a hundred years." She continued with a heavy tone, "Keep an eye out for anyone with blindfolds on and anyone dressed in modern Hakamas, they can be members of the Kitadouji and Nishidouji group, which are the most dangerous and powerful currently." Seraphim added, focusing once more.

"You don't say- Didn't we pass some of those along the way?" Hisare chocked, remember passing a few people with that description.

"Yes, I saw them too. But as long as you don't go up to them, we're alright."