Search Worlds Without End

This short story originally appeared in Lightspeed, July 2013. It can also be found in the anthology Imaginarium 3: The Best Canadian Speculative Writing (2015), edited by Helen Marshall and Sandra Kasturi.

Read the full story for free at Lightspeed.

Welcome to Neo-Tokyo, built on the ashes of a Tokyo annihilated by a blast of unknown origin that triggered World War III. The lives of two streetwise teenage friends, Tetsuo and Kaneda, change forever when paranormal abilities begin to waken in Tetsuo, making him a target for a shadowy agency that will stop at nothing to prevent another catastrophe like the one that leveled Tokyo. At the core of the agency's motivation is a raw, all-consuming fear of an unthinkable, monstrous power known only as Akira.

IN THE 21ST CENTURY, Neo-Tokyo has risen from the ashes of a Tokyo obliterated by a monstrous psychokinetic power known only as Akira, a being who yet lives, secretly imprisoned in frozen stasis. Those who stand guard know that Akira's awakening is a terrifying inevitability. Tetsuo, an angry young man with immense--and rapidly growing--psychic abilities, may be their only hope to control Akira when he wakes. But Tetsuo is becoming increasingly unstable and harbors a growing obsession to confront Akira face to face. A clandestine group including his former best friend sets out to destroy Tetsuo before he can release Akira--or before Tetsuo himself becomes so powerful that no force on Earth can stop him.

An epic masterpiece of graphic fiction and the inspiration for its stunning animated adaptation, Akira is required reading for any enthusiast of science fiction, manga, and the graphic novel.

IN THE 21ST CENTURY, the glittering Neo-Tokyo has risen from the rubble of a Tokyo destroyed by an apocalyptic telekinetic blast from a young boy called Akira--the subject of a covert government experiment gone wrong now imprisoned for three decades in frozen stasis. But Tetsuo, an unstable youth with immense paranormal abilities of his own, has done the unthinkable: He has released Akiraand set into motion a chain of events that could once again destroy the city and drag the world to the brink of Armageddon. Resistance agents and an armada of government forces race against the clock to find the child with godlike powers before his unstoppable destructive abilities are unleashed.

One of the true international classics of graphic fiction, Akira has once again taken America by storm. Artist/writer/filmmaker Katsuhiro Otomo is acclaimed worldwide as a master storyteller, and Akirashowcases Otomo at the peak of his creative form. Akira is a timeless, epic work of unforgettable beauty, horror, and imagination.

Suffering the fate that beset its namesake three decades earlier, twenty-first-century Neo-Tokyo lies in ruin. Set off by the bullet of a would-be assassin, the godlike telekinetic fury of the superhuman child Akira has once again demolished in seconds that which took decades and untold billions to build. Now cut off from the rest of the world, the Great Tokyo Empire rises, with Akira its king, the psychic juggernaut Tetsuo its mad prime minister, and a growing army of fanatic acolytes ready to go to any length to please their masters. Forces on the outside still search for a way to stop Akira, and the answer may lie in the hands of the mysterious Lady Miyako, a powerful member of Akira's paranormal brotherhood. But the solution to harnessing Akira may ultimately be more dangerous than Akira himself.

Twenty years since its original release in Japan, Akira remains one of the most widely acclaimed and influential works of graphic fiction, and creator Katsuhiro Otomo has become a legendary storyteller in animation as well as manga. Akira is a science fiction tour de force, a breathtaking vision of innocence, infamy, and insanity.

IN THE 21ST CENTURY, the once glittering Neo-Tokyo lies in ruin, leveled in minutes by the infinite power of the child psychic Akira. From the flooded wasteland of rubble and anarchy rises the Great Tokyo Empire, populated by a ragtag army of zealots and crazies who worship and fear Akria ad his mad prime minister, Tetsuo, and angry teen with immense powers of his own -- and equally immense, twisted ambitions. The world at large is not taking the threat lying down, and the military strength of the planet is massing to take on the empire, but will technology's most advanced weaponry be enough to destroy Akira? And are Tetsuo's rapidly growing paranormal abilities a potentially greater threat?

A mind-blowing epic, Akira is a sweeping graphic-novel tour de force of awe-inspiring vision and gut-wrenching intensity -- and the inspiration for the brilliant Akira animated film. Creator Katsuhiro Otomo has influenced a generation of graphic novelists and animators and is universally acknowledged as a storyteller of extraordinary skill, standing alongside the finest writers and directors of science fiction.

IN A DEVASTATED 21ST CENTURY, Neo-Tokyo, the armed might of Earth is massed against the godlike powers of two psychic titans, the mute child Akira and the deranged youth Tetsuo. While Akira has unintentionally destoryed the city twice before, Tetsuo has ravaged the surface of the Moon for his sheer amusement, and his madness grows as his abilities expand. But he is gradually losing control of the limitless energies that rage within him, mutating Tetsuo into a horror beyond imagination, and as all forces converge for a final confrontation, the fate of the planet lies in the hands of mere mortals...and the mind of a child.

This final chapter of Katsuhiro Otomo's internationally honored graphic-novel masterpiece brings to a shattering, mind-warping conclusion the science-fiction epic that has influenced storytellers from every continent and in every medium. Akira is a one-of-a-kind work of breathtaking scope, unforgettable imagery, and singular vision.

TRUTH IS STRANGER THAN FICTION...

Naoya Fukamachi is a university student whose ability to infallibly detect lies has left him friendless and isolated. When he writes a paper about a strange festival he wandered into as a child, though, he catches the fancy of his folklore studies professor, Akira Takatsuki, a handsome and eccentric man with a passion for all things mysterious. Soon, Naoya finds himself working as Akira's assistant, helping him interpret an array of unexplainable phenomena, from haunted objects and cursed effigies to urban legends. As this odd couple continues their investigations, however, Naoya realizes that his professor has had a few bizarre childhood experiences of his own...

It's no secret that Associate Professor Akira Takatsuki is a die-hard mystery fanatic, and with the help of human lie detector Naoya Fukamachi, he's determined to solve every case that hits his desk. First, a group of elementary schoolchildren claims to have contacted the spirit of their former classmate through the Kokkuri-san game, and it's been causing quite a stir. Then Naoya falls ill right around the time of the school festival, and his ability to discern lies... vanishes! And as if the timing couldn't be any worse, a well-known actress requests that they investigate ghost sightings on the set of an upcoming horror film. Lastly, stories of a young girl being worshipped as a living deity have been making the rounds, and it falls to the professor and Naoya to uncover the truth!

CURSES...BLESSINGS... TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN.

A new string of mysteries begins with Naoya's classmate Nanba discovering a chain letter in his schoolbag. Unusually excited by the occult opportunity, Professor Takatsuki gleefully invites the burden of the chain letter onto himself! Meanwhile, an urban legend about a library spirit has been making the rounds. When Professor Takatsuki and Naoya take the case, they learn about a string of clues hidden within specific library books that will come together to reveal a secret message! But according to rumor, anyone who solves this cipher will fall victim to a curse...

Later, the two make their way to the countryside to investigate the legend of a demon god worshipped in a rural village. But when an actual skull turns up in the cave said to house the demon's remains, it doesn't take long for the situation to spiral out of control...

GHOSTS OF THE PAST...

Spring has come for Naoya, now in his second year of college. To Professor Takatsuki's delight, Naoya signs on for another year as his assistant, and it doesn't take long for the requests to start coming in! Strange things keep happening in an architectural office, and every occurrence seems to feature the number four. A weekly magazine puts out an article about a real-life mermaid sighting! But arguably the biggest mystery of all is the appearance of a dapper British gentleman on campus... Wait, he's Takatsuki's uncle?!

During the summer of his second year of university, to find out the truth behind his uncanny ability to detect lies and the "Festival of the Dead," Naoya decides to head out towards the old village of Koyama in Nagano with Takatsuki and Sasakura. It was a village he visited many times as a child, the village where his beloved grandparents lived. But now, it's no better than a ghost town. Reconnecting with his cousin, Naoya then hears of the ominous saying his late grandmother whispered until the day she died: "Naoya was taken by the mountain gods." Arriving at the village where, according to the rumors "the dead walk," the group begins their investigation. But suddenly, Naoya and Takatsuki are once again invited back to that midnight festival where it all began...

A FAMILY AFFAIR...

Takatsuki's estranged cousin Yuuto reaches out for the first time in decades. Apparently, a growth has appeared on his fiancée's shoulder--and it's taking the shape of a face! The moment he and Naoya meet her, she addresses Takatsuki as "Tengu-sama..." Then, on their web page, they receive a request from someone who lives at a traditional Japanese inn. The client is a nineteen-year-old girl who claims that when she was a child, her mother was sucked into a mirror... Will the supernatural wonders never cease?

A female Seiwa student comes to Professor Takatsuki and Naoya looking for advice. She tells them about going with her club friends to a building where the elevator supposedly transports whoever rides it to another world, and the next day, one of their group vanished without a trace. Next, the pair receive a request from afar and head deep into the mountains of Tochigi. They find themselves in the middle of a construction site where mysterious events continue to occur as the builders try to fill in the marshland it sits atop. However, legend has it that the marsh is home to "Nushi-sama..."

FORGOTTEN TALES FROM THE DESK OF PROFESSOR TAKATSUKI!

Professor Mitani, a specialist in modern Japanese history, shows up at Takatsuki's office clutching a mysterious doll. After Mitani posted a photo of it to his blog, someone claiming to be the granddaughter of the doll's original owner reached out, describing how it used to grow hair and move around on its own. Takatsuki's ghost-story sensors start tingling, and he drags a reluctant Naoya along with him to investigate... What is the secret of the cursed doll? Why is Naoya suddenly getting called "Dog Boy" by the graduate students? And how does Kenji end up helping Akira on his day off? Find out the answers to all these questions and more in this short story collection from the wonderful world of Akira Takatsuki!

Shizukuishi, a small town tucked away in the Tokyo metropolitan area, is home to the law practice of one Sora Oushuu. His devotion to justice ensures that he is good at what he does, but he also has a secret: The white dog he looks after is actually a wolf. This wolf also happens to be his brother, Fuuka, who can return to human form only when the two are alone. The brothers found themselves in this strange state of affairs many years ago, and ever since, their paths have repeatedly crossed with an old enemy of Sora's. Their journey has been long, but Sora is beginning to see a glimmer of what lies at the end.