The Journal

Omoide leans back in his chair and reads over the reply. It's direct and hopeful, not unlike the other correspondence between the two. He closes his eyes and thinks of the last time he saw Benjimin and how his soul was at peace, untroubled and stable. Something seems amiss in all this but he won't know for sure until he can see his friend again and reach out to his soul and into his mind. Omoide clicks on the SEND icon and his reply is on its way.

There is a light rapping on the door to Omoide's office, it swings open as a woman dressed in a well tailored suit, completely black down to the buttons, enters the room. Her long raven hair is pulled back into a high ponytail which hangs to her waist.  The base of the tail is wrapped in black leather with a curved silver emblem in the middle. The woman quickly removes her dark glasses and bows slightly, keeping her eyes on the floor in front of her. "Sir, the requested items have been packed and the car is ready in the garage. Is there anything else we need to take with us?"

"Just the case here on my desk, Keibiin." Omoide answers as he pats the briefcase on the desk.

Keibiin replaces her dark glasses, moves to the side of the open door allowing Omoide to pass through. She then advances quickly to the desk and collects the briefcase turning to quickly follow.

Omoide waits by the elevator doors for his assistant to arrive and use her keycard to activate the elevator. The doors open and Keibiin enters first, checking the interior for anything out of place. She nods stiffly to Omoide indicating it is safe for him to enter. Once the doors soundlessly slide closed, she taps her keycard against the black panel next to the door and a tone sounds, "Lower garage, authorization; keibiinnoshugosha." A few more tones sound and then a lilting mechanical voice is heard, "Authorization accepted, advancing now. Arriving lower garage. Have a pleasant day."

The doors open soundlessly to a space devoid of light. As Keibiin steps out of the elevator, the space is instantly illuminated by hidden lights that are bright enough to leave no corner shrouded in darkness but subdued enough to not be harsh and unpleasant to the eye. She surveys the area and nods for Omoide to follow.

They stop next to a sleek black SUV that appears to have no seams or points of entry. The surface seems to just flow from end to end. Keibiin touches the side of he vehicle behind the driver's door and a panel with a single black square appears. Omoide touches his thumb to the square and the vehicle comes to life, engine roaring and a soft 'click' as the rear door unlocks.

Keibiin pulls the door open for Omoide and he effortlessly slides inside the vehicle, almost being swallowed by the darkness of the interior. Keibiin closes the door and quickly moves to the other side of the vehicle performing the same process to open the rear passenger side door. She gently places the briefcase on the seat and securely closes the door. Now moving back around the front of the vehicle, she again performs the same process to open the driver's door and enters the vehicle herself.

She gets situated in the driver's seat, checking all the gages and displays. The partition to the rear of the vehicle is still down so she waits for the order to leave. Glancing in the rear view mirror, she sees Omoide opening the laptop and setting up his remote work station. As soon as everything is ready, there is a chime of a new notification. Omoide looks pleased as he glances up from the devices and gives Keibiin a nod to begin their journey.

The partition silently moves into place as the sleek SUV enters the highway. Even though Omoide's primary purpose is to collect the memories of past lives from the 100 original souls, he takes his learned profession very seriously, helping every vessel that seeks his help, not just the ones that maintain the 100 souls.

His abilities allow him to see into every soul and view every memory, even the ability to erase certain memories when needed. He can't, however, replace or manipulate memories so when a memory is removed, sometimes the vessel is left with holes in their memory that can't be filled. Usually, the mind will pass over these inconsistencies allowing the vessel to continue on with a relatively normal life. But every now and again, Omoide is required to erase memories that alter a vessel's life considerably. He regrets every instance when this has happened so he is very careful of the lives he becomes involved in.

Omoide doesn't want to erase Benjimin's memories and will do everything he can to help him repair his mind without having to do so. He opens the files from Benjimin's latest email and settles back into the plush leather seat.

The first journal entry from Benjimin is from about 3 months ago. It starts out normal enough with him waking from a particularly stressful dream after a long day of meetings and research assemblies. It seems that Benjimin is overworking himself so Omoide makes a note of this. Benjimin can't seem to remember more than the feeling he had when he suddenly woke from this dream, covered in sweat and his heart racing. He made a side note to check his heart rate next time to have a baseline for further research. It seems that Benjimin is able to go back to sleep fairly easily and wakes feeling rested the next morning.

The next entry is a few days later. The first line from Benjimin is to start making journal entries about his day before he goes to sleep at night. It seems he is beginning to think the dreams may be caused by stress from overworking or what he is particularly working on that day. Benjimin doesn't state what his current research project is about in this entry. Omoide makes another note to make sure to ask him what he is working on if it's not mentioned later in the journal.

As Omoide reads on, it seems to be the same situation. Benjimin wakes in a sweat, heart racing (heart rate 178 bpm), and he only remembers seeing his father's face this time. Benjimin notes that he called his father only to find that he doesn't like being woke up at 1:30 AM but is otherwise in good health. In fact, he had just been to the doctor a few days earlier for a physical and everything is fine for a man of his age. Benjimin also asked about his mother to which his father stated is also in good health. Benjimin concludes that it might have been a sub-conscious trigger to contact his parents since it has been quite some time since their last visit.

There are entries for each day going forward. Mostly about how his day went, how many hours he spent at the lab, a few about heading out after work with colleagues and how he felt like something was still missing during those times. Almost like leaving the stove on or door unlocked. After about a 2 weeks of these types of entries, there is what appears to be a stream of conscious entry. Since the journals are digital, it's possible that Benjimin neglected to go through it before sending or maybe he wanted or needed Omoide to read this entry.

Lets see is this working oh look its typing technology certainly is interesting dick a ton software uh dictation software how do i erase i cant oh well here goes will fix punctuation later when im slobber not slobbering sober anyway Journal Date: Dece... or is it Nove... does it really matter? Omoide..... I miss seeing your face, hearing your voice... just talking like we used to and I would listen to every word. And your eyes... there are times they look like his..... my father's savior.... I can't see his face.. it's a blur... maybe I was too stressed or relieved.... that someone was going to help him.. help us... help me... it's your eyes.. they are so deep, like a well that can hold so much.. so so so much. so... my friend, ..... Are you going to be my Savior?.... I fear I am falling into the pit of despair that my father did.... not the same.. not really, I don't feel angry..... I just... I just want to see you, hear you again.....eh my gods..... never drinking with Harold and Sumi again! Shower, water sleep… okay, water and sleep or just sleep.

Omoide raises an eyebrow as he finishes reading Benjimin's entry realizing it was drunken ramblings that are so like Benjimin. "So my dear friend, Benjimin, do you really think you are suffering from the same ailment as your father? I know that can't be the case but how do I convey that confidently without explaining how I know?" He jots down some more thoughts as he prepares to continue reading Benjimin's journal but then suddenly stops, holding his breath for a moment as his faces contorts into a painful expression.

When the pain comes, and he knows it's coming but can't do anything to slow it down or stop it as it slams into him like a wall of ice cold water. He barely has time to hit the intercom button to quickly give Keibiin hasty instructions, "Ms. Shugosa! Pull over, somewhere remote, off the road but hidden. I'm being summoned!" He grunts and grabs onto his head, "And send reply to Benjimin.. We are going to be a little later than I had planned." Omoide doesn't hear Keibiin's reply as his soul and consciousness are ripped from his being.

"Yes sir!" Keibiin replies. The vehicle begins to slow down and turn off the main road. After several minutes, the vehicle stops completely. Keibiin activates the rear camera and sees Omoide's slumped over body on the back seat. She quickly exits the driver's seat and opens the rear door, making sure to catch Omoide if he shifts. She checks his vitals and nods as they seem steady and strong. She quickly moves his body to lay across the back bench seat and taps a console behind the seat's headrest. A compartment in the ceiling opens and an IV bag drops down.

Keibiin quickly gets Omoide set up with fluids and a heart monitor. She loads the adrenaline syringe and places it in the tray above his head, she pats the syringe and sighs, "Just in case." She looks over everything again and then moves the laptop in front of her to begin the reply to Benjimin.

My Dearest Friend Benjimin,

I must apologize as I may not arrive until early morning. I have a lead on your condition that I must investigate to be sure of my assumptions. I guarantee this to not take more than a few hours so please be confident in my desire to get to you as soon as possible and help you get through this crisis.

Best,

Omoide

Keibiin reads over the response a few times and taps the SEND icon. She sighs, looking to Omoide, wondering how long he will be unconscious and how upset their god must be to summon him without warning like this. She returns to the driver's seat and settles in, watching the monitors for any sign that the Watchman's consciousness has returned to his body.